WITCH: Dawn of the Ninetails
by Bloodprince1234
Summary: Ahri is an outcast, because she's carrying the Nine-tails inside her, a beast known for its destruction. W.I.T.C.H has been given the task to keep her safe, while beating the evil that houses in the Newly build Heatherfield. Will they succeed?
1. Chapter 1: Meeting new people

She was running down the street. The cops had seen her again. Known to everybody as an enemy of the state. She wondered how it had come to this. She never had done anything wrong, for as far as she knew. It almost seemed they hated her for her existence. She had always tried to not do anything wrong and be a good girl, as her mother and father had told her to be.

"She's over there! Shoot her!"

She looked around for a few seconds, seeing two cops aiming at her. She then leapt to a wall and ran up. The cops looked at her with a dazzled look for a few seconds, when one of them pulled the other.

"We need to get to the hovercraft. We can catch her this time."

They quickly ran off. As soon as she had seen the cops running off, she ran back down again. She had outsmarted the cops once more. But she wouldn't last forever. One day they would get her. And that day, she wouldn't be able to escape. She sighed and wandered off. She only used alleys. If she would go to the main street, everybody would recognize her. And all because of that one white spot, right above her belt.

She was wearing jeans, with a black belt, and a blue shirt, with a black jacket over it. She was wearing small black shoes. She didn't like them very much. She had long black hair which ran to her waist and she had green eyes. She had three small scratches on her left cheek. But out of all things she had, she had never liked that white spot. She had a white spot right at the end of her spine. She reached out for it. As soon as her finger touched it, she regretted it. It felt like fur. And as soon as she had touched it she got a headache.

"Not again." She put her hand against her head. She heard a voice in her head.

'_Find the extraordinary ones. With them, you will find friends, those who you can trust. And those friends will help you unravel your past. And your future. And help you, and me.'_

She collapsed on the ground. She was breathing heavily. She knew that would happen. Why was she so dumb to keep touching it? She slowly got up. Her knees were still shaking, but she kept going. She slowly walked through the alley. She saw the door she had been longing for. She knocked on the door, and an eye looked through the lock. She showed the white spot. The door opened. She quickly went in and the door closed behind her. It was dark. A switch was heard and the light went on. She was in a living room. A television was standing in the middle of the room. It was a very old one and it ran on batteries. In front of the television was a couch and a chair. There were 3 beds. That was pretty much it. Nobody would sell anything to her. Simply because it was her. She sighed at the sight of where she lived. But she did not live alone.

"Sis! Are you alright?"

"You're looking a bit pale."

The twins. Her little brothers, Jack and Ezreal, even though everybody called him Ez. And everybody was just Ahri, Jack and Ez himself, since nobody else liked them. She herself was around 16 years old, but her brothers were but 7. She often left them to get food. Nobody cared for them, so she had to care for them. Since their parents were gone. Forever.

*Flashback*

She turned in her sleep. She thought it to be very hot. Hotter than normal. She heard a voice.

'_It's not safe here. You must run! Leave!'_

She tried to ignore it and turned again. But she couldn't take heat so well. It would usually take a long time for her to get warm. But to compensate for that, she almost never was cold. She opened her eyes slightly. A red sea engulfed her. She opened her eyes in shock. Fire was licking at her books. Her computer was melting. She quickly got up and ran to her parents' room. But the fire had blocked the entrance. She felt helpless. She didn't know what to do.

'_I can help you. Please! Trust me!'_

She didn't know if the voice was telling the truth. But she had to risk it. She would do anything to save her parents and her brother. She quickly closed her eyes.

'_Where are you?'_ She thought. She saw a blue ball. It had a slight shine. She reached out and touched it.

At that moment, she opened her eyes again. A slight blue aura was seen in her normally green eyes. There grew nine white tails out of the white spot she normally had. She stretched out her hand for the door handle. She used a psychic blast to push back the fire and she opened the door. There she saw the most horrifying thing she had ever seen. She saw the fire eating its way through everything in the room. And her parents were in that room too… She quickly left. She couldn't save her parents anymore, but perhaps she could save her brothers. She opened the door, just to notice that the fire hadn't reached this part of the house yet. She quickly woke her brothers up and took them out of their beds. They then quickly went out of the house. The house was now engulfed in flames and both the firemen and the police appeared. The firemen went to get out the hoses, when they saw the girl standing in front of her.

"You." One of the firemen said. She turned round, only too see two terrified men. She saw her nine tails and stroke them.

"And this is why people don't trust you. You set fire to the house you yourself were living in."

Her eyes grew larger. "I could never do such a thing! And what do you mean? People have always trusted me!" She felt anger rising. How did they dare to say that _she_ would have killed her own parents by setting the house on fire? The anger boiling inside her made growl. A fox-like roar was heard. Her teeth were sharp. The men stared at them and they thought that with just one bite, she could bit through their arm.

"Not you! But _her_!" The firemen tried to tell her.

She created a blue ball in her hand and threw it at the fire truck. All the firemen quickly jumped away. The fire truck exploded and rolled over.

Suddenly, she got scared. If she could do this, she could have also set fire to their house. She quickly picked up her brothers and ran away. The police ran after them. She threw a blue ball in the ground, creating an explosion. She got even more scared.

"You monster! Perish in the depths of Hell!" She heard through the smoke. She was crying.

*End Flashback*

"Sis? Take a seat, you're not looking so well." Her brothers said, guiding her to her chair. She had been dreaming. It wasn't happening again. She had sealed the blue orb in a place in her brain she would never visit again. She would never use its powers again. Every night, she prayed she wouldn't set fire to this house as well. Otherwise, she might lose the only people she cared for now. She had lost her parents three years ago. Her brothers couldn't really recall the events of that time. She was glad they couldn't. It meant they didn't see her as a horrifying monster, like she herself did.

"Thank you both, Jack, Ez."

They both smiled at her. "Do you want some meat, Ahri?" Ez asked. Ahri took Jack on her lap.

"I'd like that."

Ez got some raw meat for Ahri. She had always told her brothers to cook it first, but to give it to her raw. For some reason, she couldn't eat it anymore if it was cooked. She put her teeth in it and teared a piece off. It was how she had always eaten meat. She didn't know any other way. Her parents said it wasn't her fault. It was simply her nature.

Her parents had always protected her. Cared for her. Forgiven her mistakes. She had often wondered why. But she had found out. One day, she had tried to talk to the blue orb. She had tried to find out what it was, why it was so destructive.

It had answered.

'_I…I…I am truly sorry. I cared for them as much as you did. They did not deserve this. But, for the first question. They call me the Nine-tails. They say I am destructive. That it is my nature. I try not to be like that. But because I have a bad temper, I can get mad easily. And then I destroy a lot. I am sorry. For all the pains I have given to you, and am going to give you. Please understand. It are not my intentions. Trust me.'_

She had answered too.

'_I will lock you up for a while. So that you can't destroy. I'm sure there will be a time when we meet again. When I need you. Or you me._'

So, she had locked her up in the darkest part of her brain. But she was never going to release her. Ahri sighed. Why did she have this burden? Why did she deserve this?

Ez looked at her with big eyes. "You thinking again?"

Ahri looked at her brother and smiled.

"Yes I was, Ez."

Ez smiled back.

"About what?"

Ahri's smile faded. "Nothing."

Ez was surprised. "But you just said…"

"It's nothing, Ez. Really it's nothing." Ahri got Jack off her lap and rose. "Could you leave me alone for a while, please?"

Ez and Jack nodded. Sometimes Ahri withdrew to a place only she knew. When she came back, she would be a bit weary, but that would soon wear off. Ahri left the house. Ez walked to a drawer and took out a weapon. It was a small glove. It often surprised enemies. But with your thoughts you could make a bow grow out of it and shoot mystic arrows at people. Mystic arrows were arrows formed by energy. They could only go straight forward and would penetrate the first thing they hit. Ez often looked at it. It had been his father's glove. It was the only artifact off their parents they had.

Ahri was sitting on top of their house. She sighed and went to lay on her back. She watched the clouds pass by. Most of them were grey. It was going to rain tonight. She heard a siren somewhere in the distance. She wondered who they would come to get this time? Her father had always said that the cops were good persons, trying to keep the city safe. But in her eyes, they had always been her enemies, which were trying to hunt her down and kill her. And then who would protect her family? No-one. They'd find her brothers. What would they do with them? She often wondered about this when she was sitting on the roof. But, she had one day concluded that this could've been avoided. It could've been avoided, if the Nine-tails didn't exist.

That evening rain poured down on the roof. Ahri and her Brothers were sitting on the couch, Jack in Ahri's lap. Out of her two brothers, Ez was the hero, while Jack was the sidekick. Ahri turned on the television.

"If you've seen this person, please call 911 as soon as possible. She is highly dangerous. Do not approach her alone." A picture of Ahri was shown. Ahri quickly switched channels. She had seen that search message often enough. As she didn't find any channel worth to watch, she switched the television off again. Ez and Jack went to bed and Ahri sat alone. She was thinking again. When Ez and Jack were finally sleeping, Ahri was crying.

The next day, Ahri went out again. She had stolen some food from a butcher, a baker and a greengrocer. While she was walking down the street, an old woman recognized her.

"It's her! It's the Nine-tails fox!"

Immediately, all people gazed at her. Ahri immediately felt uncomfortable.

"There's only her! We're with more. Let's take her down now!" Some old man yelled.

As a response, most of them immediately ran towards her. Ahri quickly turned and started running. As they passed more people joined the crowd, as they seemed to know it was her. Then the cops arrived. "We'll take it from here!" Their hovercrafts went after her. She knew there was only one way of being faster than the hovercrafts. To go into alleys. She quickly turned into the first alley she saw. The cops got out of their hovercrafts and quickly ran after her.

"Requesting assistance! Bearer running down Chound Alley. We have her in our vision. She's running towards the north-east exit, Jaon Street. I repeat, the north-east exit of Chound Alley, Jaon Street." One of the cops yelled in his headgear. The cops always had a microphone close to their mouths so they could immediately request assistance. Ahri could, however, outlast the cops. Her stamina was greatly boosted due to the Nine-tails inside her. As the cops started to get tired, she increased her speed. Suddenly, she saw a man waving at her from behind a door.

"Quickly, in here! Hide!"

Not thinking twice about this offer, she ran to the man and went into the house. The man closed the door and then put his hand against it, making it disappear. They watched through the window as the cops passed by. Ahri was looking at the man who had given her a clean escape.

"Who are you?" She asked. The man bowed.

"Greetings. They call me Morgan Johnson. I am the keeper of the Brotherhood."

"The Brotherhood? And what may that be?" Ahri asked.

"All shall be revealed to you, Nine-tails." Morgan said.

"How do you…" Ahri started.

"Who you are? Come on, Nine-tails, everybody knows who you are. But I guess you don't want to be called Nine-tails, do you? Ahri?" Morgan said.

Ahri looked down. "No, I don't."

Morgan took her chin and made her look at him.

"It's alright, Ahri. You won't be abused here for carrying the Nine-tails. Here, at the Brotherhood, we all have our secrets and curiosities. You just happen to be chosen to be the bearer of the Nine-tails. It was not your choice. Neither was it my choice to be born with the gift to hide things from others, like the door you just saw. But I have learned to accept that. And now, I can use it as I want." Morgan said, trying to comfort her.

Ahri took his hand away and turned her back to him.

"But that's different. Yours is just a gift to hide things from others. Mine…mine is not a gift, mine is a curse. The Nine-tails is destructive. If I were to release her…"

Morgan placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ahri, you are the bearer of the Nine-tails. Your parents chose you for a reason. They know something. Something greater. I can show you. But, only if you want to. So, for the time being, think of that. Make your own choice. But you're special, Ahri. Your parents chose you, most likely knowing you could be able to control the Nine-tails."

Ahri shook his hand off and turned to him. She was very angry.

"Oh, really? Did they know that? Then why were they burnt to ashes by it if they 'knew' I could control it! Oh, that's right! Because I can't! Nobody can! The only thing the Nine-tails does is destroying things, you know that. It's destroyed my life, and I'm not letting it ruin any other persons' lives."

She went to the door, and then realized it wasn't there anymore. She turned to Morgan with an angry face. Morgan sighed.

"Just think about it. But, come back one day. I want to show you something of your parents."

He then made the door appear again.

"Right. As if you know more about my own parents than I do." Ahri said, and with that she left.

The next day, she was sitting in her chair again. She had been thinking of her chat with Morgan for the entire night and hadn't slept. Ez and Jack had said that she should rest a bit, but she couldn't. She was haunted by the chat. How did Morgan dare to claim he knew more about her and her parents than she herself did. She knew that would be impossible. But still, she kept getting a feeling that he might know something. And that was what was bothering her. Normally, she never doubted herself. But now…For some reason, this Morgan had given her a thought she couldn't let go. And she would eventually be drawn to him, to have him tell her the secret. She had figured it all out. But she wouldn't let it go his way.

She kept ignoring the voice inside her that told her to go talk with him for two weeks. But during those two weeks, she hardly ever slept. She couldn't. In her dreams she kept being tormented by Morgan. She constantly relived the chat and saw his face. And to stop that torment, she didn't want to sleep. But the less she slept, the less her defenses and reaction time became. She had nearly been caught one day when providing food for her brothers. She now had to trust her brothers with the burden of getting food. In her mind, the lock she had placed on the Nine-tails place was weakening. She simply was to exhausted to keep it up. She heard the Nine-tails cries. The Nine-tails was trying to talk to her again. But she refused. She was already being tormented by one thing. She didn't want to be tormented by another thing too.

Then, in the third week after the chat with Morgan, Ahri got sick. The lack off sleep and the constant pressure on her mind had exhausted her to her limits. Due to the Nine-tails strength she had held off sleep for three weeks, but now she was unable to control herself anymore. Sometimes she would suddenly roar or scratch out to Jack or Ez. She had been breathing heavier and she was sweating. She knew there was only one cure. She then resigned. She couldn't break down. Who would take care for her brothers if that were to happen? There was only one thing she could do to cure herself.

In one of her more clearer moments, she told Ez to go and find Morgan.

"Go to Chound Alley. Search the entire place twice if you have to. Take dad's weapon with you, but keep it hidden. Do not let yourself get caught. Be patient and cautious, Ez. I trust you can do this. Now go…"

Ez had left, while Jack was taking care of her. Ez was gone for three days, in which Ahri's situation had worsened. On the third day, Ez came in, with Morgan on his heels. Morgan saw Ahri. He quickly kneeled next of her and put his hand against her forehead. She was hot. Very hot. Ahri opened her right eye for a moment and saw Morgan.

"Morgan," she whispered. "This is your fault, and now you're going to solve it. Tell me, tell me everything. You've tormented me long enough. Tell…me…" Ahri was constantly shifting between asleep and awake.

"This can't keep going on, we have to take her to the Brotherhood." Morgan said in distress.

Jack looked at Ez with fear, who was nodding at Morgan. If you would've been there, you could hear the change of attitude Ez suddenly had. He was now more of a leader, trying to save his sister, whatever the cost could be.

"Alright, we'll take her there. But she may not be seen." Ez said. Morgan nodded.

"That would be bad."

"Very, bad." Jack said. "But why does everybody hate her?"

Morgan smiled at him. "Patience, young one. I'll tell you and your sister after she's better again." He looked at Ahri with a sad smile. "If I knew this would've happened I would've never said all of this. But, that can't be reverted anymore. We must get her out of here. Let's go."

Ez and Jack made Ahri wear a cloak so she wouldn't be recognized as fast. They then quickly ran to the hideout of the Brotherhood.


	2. Chapter 2: The Brotherhood's members

When Ahri woke again, she felt a lot better. She was slowly opening her eyes and saw that she was laying on a couch, with a blanket over her. She then noticed a girl with orange hair.

"Ah, welcome back, Sleepy head. Have you had sweet dreams?" the girl asked.

"Who are you?" Ahri asked.

The girl laughed. "I'm Irma Lair. I have healed you from your illness. You were seriously sick."

"What's going on? Where's Morgan? And where are my little brothers?" Ahri asked impatiently, trying to get up.

Irma tried to have her lay down again. "Don't worry, they're safe. You're safe. You're at the Brotherhood here. Your brothers are here too. If you wish, I could get them here."

Ahri nodded. She looked around the room. It was almost her own house. That is, the house in which she had lived in before the fire destroyed it. There was a couch, a big chair, a television set, a radio, a large bookcase filled with books and behind her was a bureau with a computer.

Irma closed her eyes for a few seconds and when she opened them again, a blue slash appeared. Out of the slash, four young girls, Ez, Jack and Morgan appeared.

"Ah, so our sleepy head is finally awake." The red head said.

A black girl came towards Ahri. "How are you feeling, Ahri?"

Ahri got hugged by Ez and Jack. "You're alright again! We were so worried about you." Jack said.

"Who are all these people, Morgan?" Ahri asked.

Morgan scratched his head, and the five girls nodded.

"Ahri, these are Irma Lair, who you've already met." He pointed at Irma, who smiled.

"Will Vandom." He pointed at the red head, who nodded at her.

"Taranee Cook." He pointed at the black girl.

"Please to meet you!" Taranee said.

"Cornelia Hale." Morgan pointed at a girl with long blond hair, who nodded with a smile.

"And, finally, this is Hay-Lin." He pointed at a Chinese girl with long pigtails.

"Hi, Ahri." Hay-Lin said with a wave.

"And these are…?" Ahri started.

"They're my friends." Morgan said.

Ahri looked at the five girls.

"Friends…right…" Ahri said with a sigh.

Morgan cleared his throat. "Now before you get another attack, I guess we should tell you what you've been longing for to know, right?"

Ahri sat up, but still kept the blanket over her. Jack went to sit in her lap while Ez was standing against the wall with his arms crossed, listening with great curiosity.

"Now, I said your parents chose you and that I knew something about your parents you didn't know. And that's true."

Morgan went to a table and took a small device from it. He threw it on the ground and a hologram appeared. He moved through it, searching for information.

"Ah, here it is!"

A picture of Ahri as a baby was shown. She was sleeping in her mother's lap while her father was sitting next of them. The marks on her face were clearly visible.

"When you were born, your parents immediately noticed something was different about you. Look at your marks." Will said.

Ahri, Jack and Ez looked at Ahri's marks. They were red, while they were now black.

"So what? Anybody can have marks." Ahri said.

"True," Taranee said, "But these marks are special."

"Why?" Jack asked.

The five girls smiled, while Morgan looked weary.

"Because they match with something." They said simultaneously.

Ahri thought she knew where this was heading.

"Don't. I don't want to see. I already know, I think."

Jack looked at Ez, who nodded.

"The Nine-tails." Jack said.

"Exactly." Cornelia said. "This creature, called the Nine-tails, has the same marks on her right cheek."

"Your parents knew this." Irma said. "They had once seen the Nine-tails itself. It had gotten mad and destroyed the farm right next to town. So, once they saw the marks on your face, they thought you were connected with it."

"And then," Hay-Lin said, "The villagers had had it. They wanted to get rid of the Nine-tails, forever. But your parents proposed something. They proposed to lock it into somebody. The Prophecy said something about a girl with nine tails saving the city."

"Wow, wait. What Prophecy?" Ahri asked.

The girls and Morgan looked at each other, wondering if they should tell. However, the response came from someone they wouldn't have guessed.

"The Prophecy states that: _'There will be a special person. This person will control the nine tails she bears. However, the person will never be seen as a hero. Left to be an outcast, the people afraid. Darkness will fall, and a bright light will shine, illuminating the person to take its role in history'_.

Jack had spoken. Ahri looked at him with amazement.

"That's the correct Prophecy." Morgan said. "But how could someone of your age…"

"Know this?" Jack finished the sentence. "Every night, I hear a female voice say this in my head. It's as if the voice itself is pleading it to happen. As if the voice itself is in pain."

After a silence, Ez spoke.

"So that's why you sometimes shiver in your sleep. You're hearing this voice."

Morgan seemed amazed by this new piece of information, but the girls didn't seem as amazed as him. He wondered if they knew more than they told him. Will nodded at him, and he knew she would explain later.

Ahri thought of the Prophecy.

"Yep, that sounds like me. 'Special person', yeah, very. 'The nine tails she bears'…"

"That was a bit to literally for you, right?" Irma asked. Ahri looked at her.

"A bit? I can grow nine tails! And you call that a bit?"

"…yes…"

Ahri shook her head.

"It all fits. The special part, the bearing nine tails, even though that was a bit literally, being an outcast, people being afraid… But, what's with the darkness that falls and the bright light shining?"

They all shook their heads.

"No idea." Taranee said. "I guess only time will tell."

Ahri sighed. "Great. Waiting. Gotta love it."

Ez laughed. "But, please, continue. I want to know more about my parents, and I'm sure Ahri and Jack want to know too."

"So, your parents tried to protect the Nine-tails from harm, after seeing how you might be the one mentioned in the Prophecy. They wanted to keep you and the Nine-tails safe, and there's no better way than to do that by combining the two, right?" Morgan continued.

"So, basically, my parents hated me and gave me a burden. Great." Ahri said with a grim look.

The girls shook their heads.

"Not at all," Will said. "In fact, it's the exact opposite. They loved you very much. But, you know, the Prophecy said a girl _bearing_ the Nine-tails. And that means, having the Nine-tails with you. Always. Only one way to have something with you at all times, to be one with it. But it guess that made the _bearing nine tails_ a bit literally."

Morgan nodded.

"So, the villagers agreed, after some mild…persuasion. A ritual was performed and the Nine-tails was merged with you. When that happened, that white dot at the end of your spine appeared, and you grew nine tails for a few seconds. Then, it became the dot again, and your marks turned black. Therefore, you became known as the Nine-tails itself. A change of name, transferred from the actual beast to a person."

"However," Cornelia continued, "The Nine-tails didn't die, and the villagers knew this. They were afraid the beast might break free. So, they became afraid of you. You showed certain traits the Nine-tails had, such as only eating raw meat. And if you grumble, it sounds fox-like. You have better hearing than the average person. Again, a trait of foxes. This made you different. And, as we all know, different is never accepted. So, you became an outcast. The children were told never to do things with you, so eventually the children got scared by their parents tales and therefore, they became scared of you."

The girls sighed.

"But, we know, you never did anything wrong. You were just yourself." Hay-Lin said with a smile.

"Your parents tried to protect you from harm." Morgan said. "So, they resigned from their jobs, so they could watch over you."

"So that's why they were always at home! But, do you know what they did as a job?" Ahri asked, genuinely interested.

Morgan looked at Will. Will looked away. Morgan sighed. He searched through his database and showed a picture.

"This, Ahri, is the Brotherhood of 16 years ago."

In the picture, a lot of people wore special clothes, specially designed for great events. In the front, there were five people. There were a woman, three men, and a small boy. In the woman's arms lay a baby with familiar marks. Ahri started smiling at the sight.

"Yes, that's you," Morgan said. "And that's your mother, wearing her traditional black dress to match her black hair. And that's your father. The one to the right of her, with black hair, and a white smoking. Your father was a great man, and a good friend of my family. That's my father, standing next of him. And that boy…that's me, as a five-year old."

"As you can see," Irma said. "Your parents were part of the Brotherhood, just like Morgan and us."

"What's the Brotherhood?" Jack asked.

Morgan hesitated, but then Will spoke.

"The Brotherhood is actually a place for special persons, such as your parents. It was founded by your father. However, after your father stopped working, it was changed to a group of assassins, who had the task to keep you safe. Obviously, this has failed. The Brotherhood changed it's attitude, trying to find those responsible and trying to create a better world."

"You should get some more rest, Ahri." Irma said. The girls nodded and waved at Morgan.

"Think it over, if you have more questions, you can always ask. But, only within these four walls." Morgan said. Ahri nodded.

"See you tomorrow, Ahri. Have nice dreams." Irma said.

Ahri then talked with her brothers about what they had just seen and heard. Afterwards they went to bed.

*That night, in Morgan's room*

Morgan was staring out of the window, waiting.

"So, waiting for someone?" Said a female voice, coming from behind him. He turned round.

"Don't you ever do that again!" He said. A figure was standing in front of him, with black robes and a black hood, her face not visible.

"Do what?" She asked innocently.

Morgan shook his head. "Let's get on topic. I've brought her in. Do you really think…?"

"Yes. It's her. I'm sure of it."

"What does this all mean? What will happen now?" Morgan asked. He went to stand next of the hooded figure.

"It means, that the city, and this world, is in grave danger. The Prophecy is about to fulfill itself." The hooded figure said as she started to walk up and down the chamber, Morgan following her.

"How do you know that? It might also talk about someone else. The second bearer or something." Morgan responded.

"Suddenly changing your mind, Morgan? I thought you were the one saying she was indeed special. I thought it was your initiative to get her here, so we could keep a close eye on her. Or have you forgotten?" The hooded figure said, with some sarcasm in her voice.

Morgan shook his head.

"No. I have not. You're right, it's her. But since we don't know about the second part of the Prophecy, we have to be careful."

"Yes. Yes, we have to be careful," the hooded figure said. "Listen closely. There's an evil presence in this town. That's why the girls are here. They know this, and they're trying to track it down. But I'm sensing it's impossible for them to find this evil, without the help of the Nine-tails. And your help too, Morgan. I'm giving you a task, Morgan. Create a bond with her. I think she likes you. Watch over her. Keep her safe. Let the Guardians do what they do best, fighting evil."

"I shall. Are you certain the Guardians can fight this evil?" Morgan asked.

"No. But, can you ever be certain about things like that? You can't know the future, Morgan. Also, I don't think the Guardians can fight this evil without the Nine-tails. She'll have a great role in beating this evil. The Prophecy said so. Remember?_ Illuminating the person to take its role in history_." The hooded figure said.

"But, who or what is this evil?" Morgan asked.

"No idea. But we'll find out, eventually. All evil things have a plan, or just want plain destruction. Whatever it is, it always has something in common." The hooded figure said, as she was walking to the door again, preparing to leave.

"Which is?" Morgan asked, curiously.

"They always reveal themselves, sooner or later." The figure said, with somewhat of a laughter in it. "Keep an eye on the Nine-tails. Keep her safe. For now, that's the most important thing to do."

Morgan nodded, and the figure left.

Outside, the figure spoke telepathically. _'Your message and order has been given, Mistress.'_

'_Wonderful. Good work.'_ Was the answer she heard.

*The next day*

Morgan knocked on the door of Ahri's room. Ez opened.

"Hi. Is Ahri already awake?" Morgan asked.

Ez nodded and Morgan came in.

"She's in the bathroom." Ez said.

"Oh. I won't disturb her, then. I'll just wait on the couch for a while." Morgan responded.

After a few minutes, Ahri came out of the bathroom.

"Morgan?" Ahri asked.

Morgan turned round. "Ah, Ahri I…"

He saw Ahri. She looked beautiful. She was wearing a white dress, which came to her hips. Her legs were visible underneath the dress and she was wearing black shoes and white stockings which came to around half her lower leg. She was wearing two red sleeves, which were separate pieces of clothing. Her hair was hanging in a large ponytail, which went to her hips. In it was a red decoration and out of that decoration, the last of her hair was shown. She had two small pieces of hair in front of her ears, which went to her hips as well. She was wearing a red scarf around her neck.

Morgan suddenly got a strange sensation. Ahri looked at him with a weird gaze.

"You what?" Ahri asked.

Morgan shrugged it off.

"Sorry. As I was saying, I have come to check if you're alright. But it seems you are."

Ahri smiled. "How kind of you. And yes, I'm alright."

Morgan thought for a while.

"Care to explore the Brotherhood a bit with me?"

Ahri smiled. "I'd love to." She turned to her brothers. "You stay here, okay? I first want to explore, seeing if it's alright for you too walk around here."

Ez and Jack nodded. Then, Ahri and Morgan left.

They first walked to the Guardians' room. Morgan knocked three times and Cornelia opened the door.

"They're here!" She yelled. "About time." Irma yelled back.

Morgan and Ahri went inside.

"Take a seat, Ahri." Morgan said.

Ahri looked at him with suspicion. "I thought we were going to explore the Brotherhood. Then why aren't we?"

Will appeared. "Because you should know something about the Brotherhood, and us, first."

Ahri took a seat.

"I said it was a place for special people, right?" Will said.

Ahri nodded. "And then you said my father was special too. Why did you say that?"

Will smiled. "Because he was special. He was very intelligent. He even made Ez's most precious belonging."

Suddenly, Ahri got scared. "How do you know about that."

Will pointed at Morgan. "When Ez came to get Morgan, he was carrying it with him, for protection. Morgan recognized it as an advanced version of something his father had once showed him. Morgan's father had told him it was made by your father. So, it wasn't that difficult to figure it out."

Ahri relaxed again at this reasonable explanation.

"I can see you care a lot about them. You get scared the second somebody might know something about them and could cause them harm." Will said.

"But, as I was saying," Will continued. "The Brotherhood is a place for special people. You are the bearer of the Nine-tails, Morgan can make things invisible for others. And we…we have our powers too. We have been able to control the elements since we got the Heart of Kandrakar. Isn't that right, Ed?"

"It sure is, Will," The television suddenly said.

"Wow, weird." Ahri mentioned.

"Yeah, we thought so too at first," Irma said. "You'll get used to it. It gets old pretty quickly."

"So, you control the elements. Water, fire, earth, air?" Ahri asked and the Guardians nodded.

"I count four, and none of them involves talking televisions. What's going on with you then, Will?"

"As I said. We control the elements. Except that there are _five_ elements, not four. There are indeed water, fire, earth and air, but there's also quintessence. It's what makes things live. And it's side effect is talking electrical stuff. Quintessence looks a bit like lightning, to be honest." Will responded.

Ahri nodded. "Cool. So, everyone here has something like that?"

"Not really, we're a minority. But there are some people here which have special powers like this, yes. You have two groups here.

Most people here are just special because they excel at things. They can concentrate very well, make themselves 'invisible' in a crowd, are good at eavesdropping, can take out people quickly, etcetera. They have skills which make them great assassins.

And then there's the seconds group, the ones with _real_ powers, like us. Considered outcasts, we come here to find, well, more outcasts. We're the groups of elite assassins, specialized in taking people down with heavy force if needed, but otherwise acting with great subtlety." Irma said.

"But, how did you get here, actually?" Ahri asked.

They all looked grim.

"Our houses met the same fate as yours, except for Irma's house, then." Cornelia responded.

"Long story short, Will's house was set ablaze but both she and her mom got out quick enough, Taranee's house was set ablaze as well, however, with her powers over fire, she could save herself. Hay-Lin's house got burned to the ground as well, but she and her grandmother survived. Her grandmother is now somewhere else. Cornelia's house was destroyed by a bunch of hooligans, one of them killed her parents. Her little sister Lillian survived, though. She's currently with Hay-Lin's grandmother. And my house got spared. Nothing happened there, oddly enough. But, seen as I was part of the group, I joined too. My father started working as an insider in the police office. Soon after that, we got the Heart of Kandrakar by Hay-Lin's grandmother, Yan-Lin, and we became the Guardians of the Veil, and later, after we beat Phobos, the Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions." Irma explained

"Who was Phobos?" Ahri asked.

"Well, Phobos was an evil Prince, who had taken over the world of Metamoor. We helped the official ruler, his sister Elyon, to the throne and locked Phobos up in a cell, where he's guarded by Queen Elyon's guards." Hay-Lin quickly summarized.

Ahri nodded. A sight quickly came before her eyes. She saw a knife being thrown at her back. It was gone as fast as it had come. She quickly turned round, only to see a wall. Nothing was there.

Morgan and the Guardians looked past her.

"Something wrong, Ahri?" Taranee asked.

"No. No, nothing." Ahri said slowly, as she faced the group again.

"The point is," Taranee continued the story, "That we found these powers strange too, at first. But, we've come to like them and now we know how to use them properly. I was afraid of fire first, but now that I'm the Guardian of Fire, I am no longer afraid. You should do the same, Ahri."

Ahri looked at them with big eyes. It then hit her.

"Oh no! No, no, no, no and a thousand times no! I am _not_ releasing the Nine-tails from my mind prison. She's to destructive. She can't be controlled."

"That's what we thought about the elements too, at first. But hey, what's this, it's possible! We're the living proof." Irma said.

Ahri rose. "You don't understand how it is! How don't understand how I feel! She has destroyed everything for me! She has take away my parents from me!"

It was silent for a while. They let Ahri come to her senses.

Ahri then softly said, "It's impossible. Sorry."

Will shook her head.

"It's not. You've used your powers. The good ones. And the bad ones, even if that was unintended. You used your psychic abilities to blast open the door in your old home and you've used fox fire to blast the ground in front of the officers."

Ahri looked at her with amazement, yet also a slight fear.

"How do you know so much? Tell me!" She yelled. In her anger, she showed her sharp teeth and made a growl, which sounded fox-like.

"We're the Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions. Our 'boss' is known as the Oracle. He can see into the past and future, but doesn't want to change the future. However, these events have happened in the past. He was willing to tell us this." Taranee said.

Will went to sit next to Ahri.

"Listen, Ahri. You said you were the one in the Prophecy. You said you fit that first part perfectly. The second part said you would take your place in history. How do you want to do that without your powers, constantly living in fear something could go wrong? Things go wrong, yes, that's true. But you can correct them by taking control about it. You can take control of your powers. And you can talk to the Nine-tails. Taranee can read your mind, and ours. The Nine-tails said it didn't mean to do all this, and that you should trust it."

Will looked at the rest and they all nodded.

"We believe that the Nine-tails is speaking the truth, and that it didn't do any of this. That it was put to blame because of what had happened in the past. That it was falsely accused. It was telling the truth when it said it didn't mean to do all this. Neither did it want to do what it had done in the past. But she can't control her anger, and neither can you. Learn to control your powers and you anger, and show the Nine-tails how it is done. Maybe you can teach the Nine-tails something. At least, you can teach yourself something."

Suddenly, Ahri thought of something.

"It's you!"

They all looked at her with a weird look.

"We're what?"

"The ones she talked about! And she's…" Ahri swallowed. "The Nine-tails."

Irma smiled. "So she _did_ talk to you, even after you locked her up."

"It's the white spot at the end of my spine. It's a weak spot in the lock." Ahri confessed.

"And, what exactly did she say, then?" Taranee asked.

Ahri tried to remember. "I thought she said:_ 'Find the extraordinary ones. With them, you will find friends, those who you can trust. And those friends will help you unravel your past. And your future. And help you, and me.'_ Yeah, that's it."

The girls nodded. "And you really think it's us?" Cornelia asked.

Ahri nodded. "Yeah. For some reason, I trust you when you say the Nine-tails didn't mean to do all the things she had done, yet I don't trust it when the Nine-tails says so. You're extraordinary with your powers over the elements and I feel comfortable with you. As if…I've known you for so long. As if you…were my friends." Ahri finished the sentence with a smile.

Morgan smiled.

"Do you still want to see the Brotherhood, Ahri?"

"Yes, I'd love to."

Morgan and Ahri left the Guardians in their room and they went to explore the Brotherhood. Morgan led her to a chamber, filled with equipment and weapons.

"As you might've guessed, this is our weaponry. All weapons are stored here."

He then led her to the chamber next of it.

"Here, we test the equipment that has been made by engineers. Which are basically our very smart people. They're working on this new equipment on the opposite side of the hall."

They went to a staircase and went downstairs.

"This is the garage. Here are our vehicles stored."

Ahri saw some motorcycles, some hovercrafts, some cars and some shoes.

"What are those shoes for?"

Morgan smiled.

"You'll find out once."

They then walked upstairs again. They went to a large chamber.

"These are the halls of our boss. I thought you might want to stay here…" Morgan said.

"You bet I do." Ahri interrupted.

"But then you will have to be 'employed'. You know, he has to accept you as part of the Brotherhood."

"Oh, I see." Ahri responded.

Morgan knocked on the door.

"Enter," a voice said. The door then opened automatically.

Ahri entered the room and the door closed behind her. She saw a man sitting behind a desk.

"Ah. You're Ahri right? I have heard about you. They say you are special. But then, again, we all are here." The man said with a smile. "They call me Giovanni."

Ahri rose an eyebrow. "And what makes you so special?"

A telephone flew towards Giovanni, who caught it in his hand.

"I can make things levitate."

Ahri nodded. "I noticed."

Giovanni put the telephone down.

"I have the same question for you. What makes you so special?"

Ahri crossed her arms.

"Ah. Everybody knows, but you don't know."

Giovanni looked at her with a confused look.

"Wait, what?"

Ahri rolled her eyes and then smiled.

"Oh, come on. It's the easiest riddle I could've given you. Just think for a second."

Giovanni thought for a while. He went through a lot of things, but crossed things out as he went on. He stared at her for a while. He then noticed the marks.

"Everybody knows…"

"That's right." Ahri said, while rubbing her marks.

"But I don't know…"

He kept staring at the marks. Ahri's smile kept growing.

"Everybody knows about the Nine-tails, yet I don't know what she looks like. So I couldn't find her. But now I do. Right?"

"Very good, Giovanni. Indeed, everybody knows the Nine-tails, yet you didn't know what I looked like. Until now, as you so correctly remarked." Ahri responded.

"Isn't that riddle flawed? I mean, everybody knows how the Nine-tails looks like." Giovanni remarked.

"Then why weren't you able to solve the riddle?" Ahri asked.

Giovanni thought this over for a while. Why was this riddle so difficult, when everybody knew the answer.

"Because the answer is so easy. The Nine-tails had crossed my mind, but because it was so easy, I rejected it." He answered eventually, getting a smile. "Very good, miss Ahri. You seem to be very intelligent."

"I have my moments." Ahri responded.

Giovanni and Ahri exchanged looks with eachother. There was a silence. Ahri then looked out of the small window. She saw nothing except the main street. She didn't like the view. Eventually, Giovanni rose and walked up to her.

"Congratulations, Ahri. Welcome to the Brotherhood."

Ahri shook hands and tried to leave the room. As the door opened, she noticed that the room she had just left was the same as she had seen in her vision. Immediately, she tried to duck away, but a more primitive instinct took over. Three tails grew out of her white spot and they appeared from below her dress. A psychic barrier was risen. She turned around and looked at Giovanni with one eye, a slight blue covering it.

"Impressive." He said.

"Those tricks won't work on me, Gio." Ahri said, with a slightly more primal voice, which had a small hint of fox. "I have seen you throwing a knife at me more than half an hour ago. And I could sense it. Raising the barrier doesn't even cost me a slither of power. I could crush you right here, right now, and your puny levitating tricks wouldn't be able to stop me. But, for once, I will let you be. I shall see it as a test for Ahri, just this once. But try doing that again to her, if you dare. But know that if you do so, I'll throw you of the SimulTech building."

She then left, leaving an astonished Giovanni behind.

"She has even greater powers than I had ever imagined." He whispered.

Ahri withdrew her tails in front of Morgan. Ahri panicked and grabbed Morgan.

"See, Morgan," she whispered. "This is why I'm afraid, she can't be controlled."

She hugged Morgan more. Suddenly, she saw the blue orb.

'_I was just trying to protect you. But if you don't want me to…'_

'_You…protected me?' _Ahri asked.

'_Yes, first I showed you that vision, and I raised the barrier for you. I also told him to never hurt you, for otherwise…'_ The Nine-tails answered.

_´So…I…sorry. I was mistaken. I'm sorry. I guess I should…appreciate you a bit more. And not keep you locked up for a few years'_.

Something that resembled a sigh was heard.

'_I've gotten used to it by now. I was never really that, as you called it, appreciated'._

Ahri thought for a second.

'_Let's make a deal,'_ She said, _'I may use your powers and you may communicate with me at will.'_

'_But?'_ The Nine-tails asked.

'_But, I will teach you how to control your anger and you will do as I say when I think you're going to far. And, to compensate, I'll appreciate you more. Perhaps we can even become, you know, friends.'_ Ahri responded.

'_Friends…that sounds…nice. I'll control my anger, so people won't hate me as much anymore. And, for the first time in my entire, a thousand year old long life, I'll have a friend.'_ It was silent for a little while.

'_Ahri. You are a remarkable person. I accept your offer. The deal is set.'_

A small laughter was heard.

"Ahri, are you feeling alright, you're trembling." Morgan asked concerned.

Ahri noticed and looked at Morgan. She smiled at him.

"No, everything is fine, Morgan." Ahri said. "More than fine, actually. I was able to make a deal with the Nine-tails."

Morgan's eyes widened.

"What, but, how?" He asked in disbelief.

"Come to the girls. I'll explain with them around. Also I've joined the Brotherhood. I think Giovanni likes me a bit too much. Or, that said, he likes my powers to much. But, I'll keep him at bay. And otherwise I'll squash him like a bug. At least, now that I'm in control." Ahri responded happily.

Together they walked back to the girls' room.

"Good job, Ahri. We knew you could do it!" Hay-Lin said.

"You ever doubted, then?" Ahri asked.

"No." Irma responded. "But you did!" She said with a devilish grin.

Ahri rolled her eyes and placed her two index fingers against each other.

"Maybe. Maybe not. The important thing is that I'm in control now." Ahri said. "The only thing I have to do is be friends with her and teach her something about anger management. But that'll be okay. After all, I have some good friends to help me."

Will smiled at her.

"So, Ahri," Will said, "What did Giovanni say, actually."

"He seemed to be very interested in me. Or, actually, my powers. I think he's a bit jealous. But I'm not afraid of him. I think he should be afraid of me." Ahri said with a devilish grin.

Will nodded and smiled at her.

"Now, what about a small party to celebrate that you've joined the Brotherhood?" Irma asked.

Everybody thought this was a good idea.

Will made the radio turn itself on and music was coming from the speakers. Ez and Jack came in with a bag.

"You weren't forgetting about us, right?" Jack asked with clearly acted hurt.

Irma put her hand in front of her mouth.

"No," she said with the same acted hurt, "We would never do such a thing! How could we?"

Everybody laughed.

"We forgive you. After all, Jack and I have…uhm, maybe done something we shouldn't have." Ez said.

Suddenly, Ahri's face got straight.

"What did you do?"

Jack looked at Ez, a little bit frightened. Ez however showed no worry.

"We were just curious about the Nine-tails, so…we…searched the database." Ez gave Morgan the portable database back. "You should really be keeping track of these things. You might forget them one time at a more important place. Anyway, in the database we found something that caught our eye."

Jack suddenly started jumping on his feet. He seemed impatient.

"Can I tell them already?"

Ez sighed. "If you want to spoil the surprise so soon, go ahead."

Jack searched the bag and got out the old glove that had belonged to their father.

"We managed to upgrade it!" Jack said.

They all seemed surprised that two twelve year old boys were able to upgrade that weapon.

"How, if I may ask?" Irma asked.

"Well, by disconnecting the ghotosphere that gave it it's power, we reconnected it to the yomotalus, which gave it a direct power boost, making it possible to create even stronger bursts of energy. Then, by recalculating the angle the janiper had to make, we were able to replace the janiper in the right spot so that the energy burst would be directed to the right place. It's as easy as that." Jack started.

Everybody looked at the two with amazement.

"That's actually pretty smart." Taranee said. "And that you were able to do such advanced techniques at this age. That's pretty impressive."

"Wait," Cornelia said, "You actually followed what they were saying?"

"Well, yeah. They just disconnected the ghotosphere…"

"Non-brainiac explanation, please." Irma said.

"We reconnected some wires, changed the energy source and made sure it wouldn't blow itself up if you used it." Ez said with a smile. "Long story short."

"Thank you! I can actually follow that." Hay-Lin and Irma said.

They partied on, and at 3 AM, they thought it might be a smart idea to get some sleep.

Ahri tucked Ez and Jack in. They were exhausted and had fallen asleep almost immediately when they had hit the bed.

"Good night, my little angels." Ahri said, while putting the light out.


	3. Chapter 3: For the greater good

The next day, Ahri woke up with a headache.

"What on Earth have I had last night?" She was slowly wondering.

She then remembered that she had fallen when she had turned off the lights. She could see slightly better when it was dark, but she couldn't keep an eye on everything. One of Jack's shoes had been lingering around and when she had stepped over it, she had stepped on the other shoe of the pair. This had caused her to slip and her head had hit the wall.

"I really should be more aware of my environment." She said sleepily.

She turned her head. Suddenly, she looked right into two blue eyes.

"Hi sis." Jack said happily.

"Hi." Ahri responded.

"Shouldn't you get up?" Jack asked.

Ahri smiled and petted him on the head. She went through his blond hair.

"What time is it?" She asked.

Jack looked at his watch.

"Around 10 AM."

"Can you wake me in 15 minutes? Please? You take a shower first. When you're done I'll go." She turned around again.

"I'm done already. Ez is showering now." Jack said.

"Wake me when he's ready." Ahri responded when Ez entered the room.

"Ready." He said with a smile.

Ahri pouted and sighed. "Fine. Have it your way."

She got up and took a shower. She then went to have breakfast. Her brothers were also having breakfast. She saw they were both wearing the same clothes, but with different colors. Ez was wearing a white shirt with a brown jack over it. He was wearing a light brown belt, blue jeans and black boots. Jack on the other hand, was wearing a black shirt with a green jack over it. He was wearing a dark brown belt, black jeans and brown boots. They both had blond hair and Ez wore some goggles on his hair.

She herself was wearing the clothes she had worn before. She liked them, even though she had left the scarf out. It had only been in her way.

"Ez? What are the goggles for?" Ahri asked.

"Oh, these are experimental goggles. I'm making them for Jack. They can show a lot of data right in front of your eyes. For example, they can give you a walkthrough through a building without being in it. This can give you a better perspective of how to get around. But they're still in development. I'm still trying to find out what the best size of the information is, so that it is displayed in a size to both read it, and still see what's happening around you. You wouldn't want to arrive in a dangerous situation when you're searching for the information, right, Jack?"

"I surely wouldn't want that, Ez. That would be very bad." Jack responded with a very serious nod.

Ahri smiled and shook her head.

"Since when are you in this invention stuff?" Ahri asked.

"Since we found out dad was a great scientist who invented many things. He invented the glove, the system that supplies the main city of energy and made numerous blueprints for vehicles. These vehicles have been upgraded and are now actually being used!" Jack said.

Ahri looked at her food. "Dad's really an amazing person…" she whispered.

There was a knock on the door. Ahri opened the door and Hay-Lin came in.

"Hi guys. Have you had a nice breakfast?"

The twins both nodded.

"Nice. I have too. I had a great meal. It was so delicious, I can still taste it if I just think back of it." Hay-Lin said with a large smile.

"What was it?" Jack asked.

"Cornflakes." She said.

They all laughed.

"Ahri, Giovanni wants to speak us. And you." Hay-Lin said, getting a nod from Ahri.

"Boys, you stay here. Be safe. Go work on those goggles."

They then left for Giovanni's office.

W.I.T.C. and Morgan were waiting. Morgan was talking to Irma, while Taranee and Will were talking as well. Cornelia was staring out of the window.

"What's Cornelia thinking about?" Ahri asked.

"She's most likely thinking of Caleb. He's been her boyfriend for a few years now, but they argue a lot. Most of the time it's just nonsense. But she's here now and he's on the world of Meridian." Hay-Lin responded.

"Meridian?" Ahri asked.

"It's the world where we fought Phobos and where Elyon is Queen." Hay-Lin explained, getting a nod from Ahri.

Will saw Ahri coming and waved at her.

"Hey, had a good night?" Taranee asked.

"Yeah, you?" Ahri responded.

"Not bad, not bad. Although a certain _someone_ kept me awake." Taranee said, throwing a glare at Irma. Irma held her hands up in defense.

"I didn't do anything!" She said, but it was clearly visible that she was lying.

"She used her powers over water to throw water at Taranee in random intervals." Hay-Lin said with a small grin.

Giovanni opened the door. Immediately, everyone went silent.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked. They all shook their heads. "Come in."

They all went into the office and Morgan closed the door behind them. Giovanni went to sit behind his desk again and pressed a button under his desk. Immediately, the curtains closed, making the room dark. Giovanni pressed another button and a hologram appeared in the middle of the room. Ahri looked around the room and noticed a small device just above the door which created the hologram. The hologram was of a man.

"This is Theodore Rockwell. He's the owner of a club in the main town." Giovanni explained.

The main town was the city where Ahri had grown up, until the fire. She had fled to the poorer part of town, which most of the people referred to as 'Satellite'. It was called this way because it had the shape of a satellite. The police was in Satellite more often because it was home to criminals, drug dealers and prostitutes. Ahri didn't really like Satellite, to be honest.

"We've had reports from our inside man in the police, Tom Lair, …" At these words, Irma straightened her back a bit in pride, "that this Rockwell is providing weapons to the criminals in these parts. Tom has collected information that he is also the main provider of technology to a group of criminals known as AUW."

"AUW?" Taranee asked. "What's their purpose."

"AUW stands for Association for Underground Warfare. They want to unleash a war between their group and the government. We don't exactly know why they want this. But most likely they just want to become the leaders of the region. From there on they might have a plan to get more power. Tom is investigating it for me. Anyway, if we can take Rockwell down and know where he's hiding his weapons we can dent their plans significantly. That's where you come in." Giovanni stated, pointing at W.I.T.C.H., Ahri and Morgan.

"Try to find out where he hides his weapons and take him out. We can then get the weapons to the police station. I'll make sure Tom is on standby." Giovanni said with a frown.

They all nodded at each other, agreeing of the plan.

"How will we find out where he hides his weapons?" Ahri asked.

Giovanni smirked. "There are six girls here, and he is one man. I think you'll figure out something."

W.I.T.C.H looked at each other, while Ahri and Morgan exchanged dark looks. Was he really suggesting…?

"Now, go off, you seven." Giovanni said. "You can use a vehicle from the garage. Or a helicopter, if you want. You know where they are."

They nodded at him and went off. They walked towards the garage.

"How can he suggest we do something like that?" Irma asked disgusted.

"I don't really think he meant to go _that_ far, Irma." Morgan said, even though it was clearly visible he wasn't so sure. "I think he was suggesting you seduce him in telling you. But, obviously it's your call. You're in charge of hoe you're going to deal with this guy. He's just giving you the job."

Will smiled at the rest of them and blew some hair away, which was sparking with electricity.

"W.I.T.C.H. style. Let's show Ahri how we do it."

The girls nodded at each other and Ahri rose an eyebrow. This could be interesting to see.

They had arrived at the garage. Cornelia opened the door and two familiar persons were looking at a helicopter.

"Ez, Jack! Didn't I say to stay? Shouldn't you be working on your goggles?" Ahri said annoyed.

Ez and Jack turned around. "Oh. I guess this is trouble for us, huh?"

"Big trouble." Cornelia said. "Unless…" She winked.

Ez looked at her. What was she trying to imply? Suddenly, Jack started prodding Ez. Ez looked at him with confusion. Jack then sighed and pointed at the helicopter.

"Oh. Of course."

Cornelia smiled, Ahri shook her head while the rest just laughed.

"So, tell us." Taranee said, "Why are you here? What have you done to the helicopter?"

"Nothing really. We just upgraded it to fly better, be more stable and it now responds better and faster to the commands given by the joystick. Not that hard." Jack said with a bored sigh.

"And you did this in, how much time…?" Irma asked.

Ez thought for a few seconds. "Ten minutes, I think. Might be twelve."

Irma wanted to respond, but it remained silent. After a few seconds she spoke.

"Wow, I'm actually speechless. And that at this age…You will be great scientists when you're older."

Jack seemed to be very excited after this statement. Ez rose an eyebrow.

"Maybe, maybe…" He muttered.

Will opened the door of the helicopter. 'Time to fly, guys."

While everybody was getting in, Will lay her hand on the autopilot. "Quintessence."

Suddenly, they could hear a voice.

"Hey Will. What are you up to today?" the helicopter asked.

"Bring us downtown, George. We have some business to do." Cornelia responded.

"Very well, miss Cornelia. And who is the new lady, if I may ask?" George the helicopter asked.

"Her name is Ahri." Taranee responded.

"Pleased to meet you, miss Ahri." George said.

"Pleased to meet you too, George." Ahri said, feeling a bit awkward about talking to a helicopter.

"Time to fly, George." Will said, slightly demanding.

George got the hint and flew away. Ahri looked out of the window and saw them flying out of the roof of the house Morgan had first met her. The building was mostly underground. Only the garage, the main hall and Giovanni's office were above the ground. Giovanni's room was not on the same level as the main door. It was slightly lower, but it still had windows to look outside. The garage, on the other hand, was the lowest floor. They had a door to the main road in the garage. The helicopters were on the highest floor.

She saw Satellite and, in the distance, the main town. The main town looked bright and had a lot of skyscrapers. The difference with Satellite couldn't be greater. Satellite was dark and grim.

'_It reflected how the people were in the different parts of town.'_ Ahri thought. '_People in Satellite are seen as, or really are, criminals or hookers. Most of the time it's a grim place. While most of the people downtown are happy. They are wealthy.'_

They came closer to their destination and eventually landed on a roof of a flat.

"Thanks, George." Will said. "Stay here, okay?"

"No problem, cutie." George responded.

Morgan walked to the backseat and took out a briefcase.

Morgan nodded at Will, who nodded back. Will called them together.

"Okay. First of all, we don't know the interior. First, we'll send two people in for investigation of the interior." Will said.

"Morgan and I'll do that." Ahri said. "We can dance and scan the interior in the meantime. They won't suspect a thing."

Will confirmed with a nod.

"Good. Then we will create a plan in which we take use of the interior."

Morgan showed the briefcase and opened it. The goggles Ezreal was working on were in it.

"How did you…?" Ahri started.

"Ez wanted us to test it. And what better way to test it now?" Morgan said, while putting them on. He then remembered something. "Wait. Didn't he say the interior could be shown with the goggles?"

"Yeah, he did." Hay-Lin said. "But I'd rather want you two to go in there. We need to know where he is located. It will only show furniture and that kind of things. It won't show humans."

Morgan nodded and took Ahri's arm. "Shall we, my lady?"

Ahri looked at him with a seductive gaze and a smile. "Of course, my lord." She received a grin from Morgan.

Together they walked down the stairs of the flat. Once they were on the ground floor, they walked towards the door. They crossed the street to get to the club. However, a guard was standing near the door of the club.

"It's a club." Cornelia said, "They won't get in this way."

Taranee and Will looked at Irma, who nodded at them.

The guard at the door looked at Ahri and Morgan. He looked at Morgan's clothes especially, since he wasn't wearing anything you would commonly wear in a club.

Will nodded at Irma.

'_You will let them in. You will let them in. You WILL let them in!'_

The guard opened the door. "Have a nice evening." He said.

W.I.T.C.H grinned at eachother. "Good job, Irma." Hay-Lin said.

Ahri and Morgan looked around. There was a dance floor on the first level of the building, while the VIPs were on the second level. Morgan took Ahri's hand and they went to the dance floor. They started dancing. Morgan lead and made sure they wouldn't be doing anything to raise suspicion. Ahri fell into his arms and he noticed her eyes flashing in all directions.

"Keep not only your eyes, but your ears open as well." Morgan whispered just loud enough for Ahri to hear it.

He pulled her back up and they danced around the dance floor. Suddenly, Ahri's improved hearing noticed something.

"Of course, Rockwell. It'll be taken care of."

Her eyes flashed towards the direction she'd heard it. She saw him on the second floor, sitting in some cushions with two women next of him. He had his arms around both of them. Her eyes flashed to Morgan, who seemed to immediately understand what she wanted to tell him. She shot her eyes to Rockwell and Morgan let her fall in his arms again. She saw Rockwell getting up and picking up the phone. Right as he was about to talk, the DJ started speaking.

"That was _the_ dance song of the year! I hope you're ready for some more sick beats, because we got 'em for ya. So, let's continue! _A love song, perhaps?_'

After that, "I need a hero" by Jennifer Saunders was heard.

Ahri couldn't hear what Rockwell was saying over the phone, although he looked distressed.

Ahri came back up and they danced further. She lay her arms around Morgan's shoulders.

"I really hate that DJ. He just _had_ to talk when Rockwell was getting a phone call. It didn't really seem to be a good one."

Morgan grinned at her. "If I get you up, can you spot the location of the staircase? I'll mark the position of it to the DJ's place." Ahri nodded in response.

They danced for a while, getting a bit closer to the DJ's place. Once there, Morgan took Ahri to his right shoulder and she spread her arms and closed her legs. Morgan spun her around slowly and she made it look as if she was looking over the crowd. Instead, she was searching for the staircase. She noticed it in the right corner and heightened her nose as a mark to Morgan. He took her down while still letting her point in the direction of the staircase. He marked it by making something invisible. He could easily spot it again. He nodded and they danced again. Eventually, at the end of the song, Morgan got her down again. She fell in his arms to end the dance. They had gotten the information they needed.

They noticed some people in the crowd were looking at them. Morgan rose an eyebrow to Ahri. She got up again and they wanted to leave. When they were close to the door, a woman stopped them and looked at them. Especially at Ahri.

"I have the feeling I…know you from something." The woman said.

"Oh," Ahri started, "Is that so?"

Morgan was nervous, but he hid it quite well.

'_Girls,'_ he said telepathically, _'We have a slight situation here. They may find out Ahri's the Nine-tails. And then we're going to have one hell of a problem.'_

'_Okay. We're on our way.'_ Taranee responded. _'Try to distract them for a while._'

"It seems like she doesn't know you. So how can you know her?" Morgan asked the woman.

The question made the woman uncertain about the whole situation.

"Perhaps I've seen her somewhere?" She said uncertain.

"We see so many people a day." Morgan said. Morgan noticed W.I.T.C.H. coming in. Will nodded at Morgan. Hay-Lin came to them.

"Oh hey, didn't think I'd see you here!" She said happily.

Morgan and Ahri acted as if they were surprised.

"Hey, what a surprise!" Morgan and Ahri said. They looked at the woman.

"Let's talk in private, shall we?" Hay-Lin said. With that they left to the rest of the group.

"Seems like that ended well." Taranee said.

"Barely." Ahri said, when she suddenly noticed something. "Hey, where's Cornelia?"

At this, the girls smiled. Ahri and Morgan looked at each other in confusion.

"What's so funny?" Morgan asked.

Will simply pointed towards the place where the staircase was.

"You don't mean…?" Ahri said with surprise, slowly gaining a grin on her face.

She looked towards the second floor and noticed Cornelia sitting against Rockwell, still surrounded by two women.

"She didn't do this by free will? Did she?" Ahri asked with a grin towards the rest.

Irma shook her head in faked shock, Will rose an eyebrow, Taranee sighed and Hay-Lin smiled at her.

"Of course she did." Irma said with obviously faked hurt. "How do you even suggest that we made her do this."

"My birthday party, last year." Morgan said, getting a glare from Irma.

"Touché." She said.

Ahri looked to Morgan. "What happened then?"

Morgan sighed as the girls grinned at the memory. "I'll tell you later. We've got a mission to focus on now."

Taranee suddenly looked alarmed. "Cornelia is talking to us."

Ahri shook her head. "No, she's up there. We can't hear her over this music."

Taranee looked at her direction and closed her eyes. Ahri could suddenly hear Cornelia.

'…_back of the building. It seems he doesn't trust anyone outside of his hand picked workers. He does say it however if he wants to brag against a pretty girl, as shown now..'_

'_Good job, Cornelia.'_ Will responded. _'Time to stop the show then. Forever.'_

Will walked to the DJ's stand. Ahri looked in confusion to Taranee.

"What just happened? How could I hear Cornelia and Will _in my head?_"

"We have a telepathic link. You can take up contact with anyone if needed. I sort of added you to the group, you could say." Taranee explained, as Ahri nodded.

Will stood next of the DJ's stand and placed her hand on it.

"Quintessence." She whispered.

The music started screeching. Some panels on the dance floor lit up in different colors very fast, while others malfunctioned and stopped working completely. People started making remarks at what was going on.

In the commotion, Hay-Lin, Taranee, Irma, Morgan and Ahri quickly went to a door which led to the back of the building. They slipped in unseen.

Meanwhile, Cornelia was still talking to Rockwell. At the commotion, Rockwell looked down to see what was going on. Therefore, he didn't notice Cornelia put something in her mouth.

'_Done._'

Will stopped her powers and everything returned to normal.

"Sorry, people. It seems there was a slight problem, but it is gone now. Please enjoy the rest of your stay!" The DJ said over the speakers.

Cornelia chatted some more with Rockwell.

"You know," Cornelia said, "You've become very successful over the years. Tell me, what is your secret? How did you do this marvelous feat that nobody has ever done before?"

Rockwell seemed flattered. "I'm sorry. But if I'd tell you, you'd be followed by my rivals. They'd love to have that information as well."

Rockwell smiled at her, when she raised an eyebrow. "Did you also get a phone call from one of your rivals a few minutes ago, then?"

Rockwell's smile faded. "Yeah. He threatened to take my place as owner of the best disco place in the city. Not by killing me, of course, simply by making his disco better."

Cornelia could clearly see he was lying. She thought the call was most likely from one of his contacts who gave the message that something, which was most likely a delivery, had failed. She couldn't smile, but she was smiling in her head. The work of criminals should always fail.

Cornelia sighed. "Stupid man. How could he possibly do that?"

Rockwell smiled again, obviously flattered by all of Cornelia's praising remarks. "I get those kind of phone calls for a long time, constantly from the same guy. He never got past place ten on the list. I like you, you seem to be interested, but not too much."

Cornelia faked as if she was flattered. How could she possibly be flattered by a criminal?

"Thank you."

Rockwell called for one of his men. "Give this lady a present."

The man nodded and went away. Cornelia looked at him with surprise. "A present, for me? I don't really know if I can accept that."

"Please," Rockwell responded, "I will not accept you refusing it. You have given me a wonderful time and a nice conversation."

Cornelia didn't really think they had a great conversation, she had just flattered him the entire time. Which was exactly what she had to do.

"Very well then. If you insist." Cornelia said with a blush.

The man came back with a small box. When Cornelia opened it, she saw a silver ring. When she looked back to Rockwell, she saw that the two women in his arms also wore a silver ring. That could be seen as a good sign.

"It's beautiful, Rockwell." Cornelia said, putting on the ring.

"Please," Rockwell said, "Call me Theodore."

Cornelia nodded and bent forward. She saw how Rockwell looked at her breasts. She was fuming inside, but hid it perfectly. Not that he would've seen it if she hadn't. She took his chin and pointed it to her face. They looked each other in the eyes. He slowly got closer, while she got closer to him as well. They stopped and they could hear and feel each other breathe. His breath smelled like alcohol. Cornelia disgusted it, but hid it from Rockwell. He gently kissed her on her lips and when she retreated, she faked a smile. They kissed again, but this time, Rockwell put his tongue in her mouth. She didn't like it, but she had to accept it. With her tongue, she placed the capsule she had placed in her mouth earlier, in his mouth. She broke the kiss. She saw Rockwell swallow the capsule. She smiled at him. It wouldn't be long now.

In the back of the building, the rest of the group was looking around.

"Wow," Hay-Lin said when she opened a crate, "This guy likes AK 47's."

"I don't think he likes them, Hay-Lin," Morgan said darkly, "but I think his customers do. He's a supplier. He buys what his customers need and bring it to them. And for that, he gets paid. And that's why he was able to create a place like this."

Taranee nodded. "He's just a pawn in a larger game."

Ahri wandered across the room. She saw a desk and walked towards it. On the desk, a purple gem was laying. She picked it up. She saw a small machine which had a gap in it. It was shaped the exact same way as the gem.

"I think I got something here."

Irma came over. Ahri pointed to the gap in the machine, while Irma was looking at the gem.

"Those are a match. We'd better get this to the HQ. We'll let someone figure out what it does."

Ahri placed the gem in her pocket and took up the machine. "The police can be here any minute."

Irma nodded. "Let's get out of here."

They walked back to the door.

'_Cornelia, Will. Everything clear?'_ Taranee asked telepathically.

'_I'm ready.'_ Will responded.

'_Rockwell has swallowed the capsule. I now have to make it seem like an accident.'_ Cornelia responded. _'I could let him fall off the railing or something.'_

Irma smiled. _'We can distract him.'_

'_How?´_ Cornelia asked in return.

The group ran out of the door.

Will spotted them. "Hey! Thieves!" She yelled as loud as she could.

Rockwell heard it and was immediately alerted. He quickly went to the railing to see where the thieves were. He saw the group.

"Stop them!" He yelled, standing on his toes. He suddenly had a weird sensation. It felt as if his body suddenly became more stiff. He felt his throat hurt. What was going on? It was very painful. He thought this might hurt for a while. He decided to ignore it, he had probably eaten something before which was now causing the pain in his throat.

'_We can go, Cornelia. Come to us as soon as possible. Abandon the slow and painful kill._

Cornelia made use of the situation and gave him a small push with telekinesis. It seemed Rockwell slipped. He fell over the railing, but held on with one hand. Cornelia quickly rushed over and reached out for him.

"Take my hand with your other. I'll pull you up."

He tried to take her hand, but with small bursts of telekinesis she made sure he couldn't grab it. He saw his other hand slowly slipping away.

She took his hand with both her own and tried to pull him up. Everybody was now looking if Rockwell would be okay, instead of arresting the thieves. Suddenly, Rockwell slipped between Cornelia's fingers and he fell to the ground. Everybody held his or her breath. The fall seemed to last forever. The last thing Rockwell saw, was Cornelia's face. It went from shock to a small grin. His eyes widened when the thought of murder hit him. He hit the ground and a loud crack was heard. People rushed over to Rockwell. Cornelia walked away and walked down the staircase with a small grin, gliding over the balustrade with one hand.

Will smiled and walked towards the rest of the group. Everybody looked at each other. Nobody said a thing. Cornelia walked to them as well. They all nodded at each other.

They then wanted to walk away. One of the women that had been laying in Rockwell's arms pointed at the group.

"They did it. She let him slip out of her hand on purpose!"

Some people looked around, most of them were Rockwell's men. Suddenly, the eyes of one of them widened.

"What's wrong?" a colleague asked.

"It's…the Nine-tails…" the man whispered.

Even though it was a whisper, it seemed like everybody had heard it. The people who had first been looking at Rockwell were now quickly turning around.

"I knew it!" Was suddenly heard. The woman that had nearly discovered them when they danced came forward, pointing at Ahri. "I knew I had seen her somewhere! She was there when she robbed that poor baker of his bread."

Ahri's eyes got a bit darker. She showed her small fangs. The woman backed off.

Rockwell's men took out some guns, including the DJ who got it from underneath his stand.

W.I.T.C.H. looked from each other to the people.

'_If we transform now, with everybody watching us, our identity's aren't safe anymore.'_ Cornelia said.

'_Ahri's identity has never been safe. We can't risk ours.'_ Taranee said.

'_We don't want to be hunted on by the government for our powers, do we?' _Hay-Lin said, sounding a bit scared.

Will remained silent.

'_What's your answer, Will.'_ Irma asked.

Ahri got her nine tails out.

"Yes." She said darkly. "I am the Nine-tails fox. And now, what are going to do about it?"

Rockwell's men aimed their guns at her. "We _will_ kill you for this, fox girl. You won't escape now."

Ahri smiled. "Will you kill me? Or will I kill you? That's the question."

Her eyes got a small blue aura. The guns, too, got a small blue aura around them. The barrels suddenly bent and the guns were now unusable.

"My psychic powers over your puny guns." Ahri said.

Morgan took her hand. "Let's get out of here, Ahri."

Ahri shook free. "And let these people know our identity's? We should take them all out."

Morgan went to stand in front of her and looked in the, now with a blue aura engulfing it, green eyes. "You have never killed somebody before. So why would you now?"

Ahri looked in his eyes. The blue aura lit up a bit more. Morgan heard the DJ stand fall over. They looked at each other. He heard her breathe, she heard him breathe. Time seemed to stand still. He heard her breathing get slower and deeper. Suddenly, the blue aura went away.

"You are…right…" She said, sounding defeated.

Rockwell's men charged at her. She could see it, but Morgan couldn't. She quickly pushed Morgan out of the way and got jumped by three of Rockwell's men. More men jumped on her. They started hitting her. Morgan tried to get them of her, but they got back on to her or started to fight him. He fought against a few and he defeated them, but after a while they were with too many. He couldn't fight them all.

"Ahri, fight back!" He yelled at her.

"I have never killed someone before. So why would I now?" She said, tears running over her face. She screamed out in pain.

"Please, Ahri. At that time, you were about to kill innocent bystanders! But now, they are no longer innocent. They might kill you! All of them want you dead! Please Ahri. Take. Them. OUT!" Morgan yelled.

He saw Ahri's face in tears. She closed her eyes just before someone blocked his vision of her.

'_We can't...'_ Irma said.

"I have made my decision!" Will suddenly yelled out, taking out the Heart. Morgan turned to the Guardians.

"Guardians Unite!" Will yelled out.

5 small orbs got out of the Heart and then flew towards the 5 girls. The orbs hit them on the heart and the girls got engulfed by a bigger orb. They got out of it one by one.

"Water!" Irma said, as she got out of the orb.

"Fire!" Taranee said as she got out of the orb.

"Earth!" Cornelia said as she got out of the orb.

"Air!" Hay-Lin said as she got out of the orb.

"Quintessence." Will said as she got out of the orb.

The girls had transformed.

The dance floor started to lit up in a bright light again, blinding some people looking into it.

Hay-Lin blew the people off of Ahri. Morgan quickly rushed to her.

"Ahri, are you alright?" he asked.

She looked at him. "Morgan. When is it alright to kill someone." She whispered. "Isn't it always a sin? Or is it sometimes the only way?"

Morgan shook his head. "I don't know, Ahri. I don't know."

Ahri looked at Will, who looked back. The two girls exchanged a nod.

Cornelia cracked open the floor and some people fell into it. Irma filled it with water and let some people slip in it. Hay-Lin then froze the water.

Will took up Will and Taranee took up Morgan. Irma, Cornelia and Hay-Lin put the rest of the people in cracks. When everybody was in a crack in the floor, Cornelia closed the floor. Nobody could see that there were people trapped in ice under the floor. Rockwell was the only one still laying on the floor.

"Why do we leave him, lying there?" Ahri asked. Blood was flowing down from beneath her hair and her lip was bleeding too.

"We want them to know he's dead." Hay-Lin said.

They went outside of the building and flew back to where the helicopter was. The girls transformed back as Morgan helped Ahri get in the helicopter.

"Back to the HQ, George. And fast, please. We have someone injured." Will said.

George quickly took off. "On my way already. May I ask how she got injured?"

"She didn't want to fight back. An honorable thought, but…I'd rather not die by some men constantly hitting me." Irma said, with a smile to Ahri.

Ahri seemed a bit sad.

"Ahri," Morgan said, getting Ahri's attention, "It's not wrong to defend yourself. It was indeed an honorable thought, as Irma has said, but…please, defend yourself."

"When I did, you said I shouldn't kill. Then what did they just do?" Ahri said weakly, pointing at W.I.T.C.H.

Morgan smiled sadly at her. "You were about to kill them in rage. You were taunting them, knowing you could easily beat them. They killed all those people, yes, but they did it to protect you. I fought with them to try and protect you. If they attack you, you have to protect yourself. You don't necessarily have to kill them, just make them unable to fight."

"Yeah," Hay-Lin said, "We only killed them because otherwise our identities would be in danger. We'd rather not be hunted on by the government for our powers."

Ahri got a small smile on her face. "I will protect you, too." She said, before falling asleep in Morgan's arms.

W.I.T.C.H. giggled, but they quickly shut their mouths when Morgan looked at them, although they did keep on smiling.

"I'd be tired too after such a 'workout'. Wouldn't you?" Irma said to Morgan, with a playful smile.

Morgan smiled back at her. "Yeah, I would be."

With that, the group became silent. The only thing they heard was Ahri's breathing, which was louder than normal. Irma used her powers to heal Ahri's more serious wounds, knowing they could attend the less worrisome wounds later, when they had arrived at the HQ. She sometimes wondered if it was wrong what they were doing. Irma had posed the question to Will, who had denied this. As long as they made the world better because of it, their acts were justified. And yes, killing wasn't something she fancied. But it had to be done. And they, as the Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions, would take that task upon them. After all, Earth was one of the worlds in the Infinite Dimension as well. Her thoughts wandered to her 'previous' life. The life in which she lived happily with her family and she and her friends were freeing a princess from her evil brother, or when they had to beat a corrupted Keeper and the previous Guardians. She smiled at those thoughts as she continued to heal Ahri.

Hay-Lin looked out of the window and saw the tall buildings of the many multi-million companies that had settled themselves in Heatherfield. A few years before, Heatherfield had become the center of attention after a millionaire discovered the wealth of customers Heatherfield possessed and the great location it had. Being close to water and having an airport, supply's could be delivered and products could be sent quickly. Before that, nobody really showed any interest in Heatherfield. Some people didn't even know it existed, not even when they lived twenty miles away from it. Therefore, Heatherfield had been booming as a city. Hay-Lin wondered about their job, as she saw the sun set, its rays illuminating the west side of the buildings in a slightly yellow aura, the sky behind the buildings coloured in red. They were assassins indeed, the best the Brotherhood had, although Hay-Lin had to admit that this task had been way to easy. They didn't even have to try at all to make this work out. Sort of. They had done the kill rather quickly, but someone had noticed Ahri when one of Rockwell's mistresses had pointed in a direction to the door. Hay-Lin at least was glad they got away, their identities safe. Nobody would find the people locked up in ice under the floor. And even if they did, Hay-Lin didn't really care. No-one would figure out how it could be done and the people they had frozen inside had most likely already died of frostbite.

Taranee had closed her eyes and tried to focus her thoughts. After a mission, she always evaluated it. She tried to figure out what could've been done better, faster, in a different way, how easily they could've been caught and if someone had seen them, which they hadn't 'take care of'. But, most importantly of all, if their identity's could be tracked down by leaving evidence. She scanned through the assassination they had just done and assured herself that their identity's couldn't be discovered. She did deduce, however, that it hadn't been by much or they would've been discovered. Technically, they were discovered, but that small problem was quickly taken care of. Obviously, and as always, it could've been done better and faster, but, if it came to killing, Will was in charge. And Will had a thing for slow, painful kills. It was as if she was trying to get some sort of revenge, thinking _this_ might be the person who had destroyed her life by setting her house on fire. Taranee opened her eyes as she felt a small flame in herself. She could feel the fire. A destructive power, as it had proved when it had burned her house down, but also one of warmth and kindness. A fireplace could be romantic and fill the people sitting close to it with warmth, but it could also get out of hand and burn those sitting next of it. And with burn, she meant only small injuries. But sometimes, it could get really out of hand. She tried to suppress the bad thoughts of people with their faces burned off. She looked at Ahri, who was sleeping peacefully and then switched her gaze to Morgan, who was looking at Ahri as well.

Morgan looked at Ahri's face. He saw the small marks on her left cheek and stroked it softly, however, he was unaware of it. A ray of the setting sun stroke her face. He never noticed that her cheeks were a little bit more red than the rest of her face. It seemed to be how they naturally were. Her lips were full and slightly red. He noticed that it was of a small stream of blood coming from her upper lip. He did not dare to move his arms. Ahri was sleeping peacefully and he didn't want to stop her. She had been hit by those people in the club and he thought she deserved some rest. Ahri turned closer to him, laying her head against his chest for a more comfortable sleeping position. He felt weird. He didn't know what this was. Was he in love? No, how could he be, he didn't even know her that well. He had saved her, granted, but that was after he had tormented her first with his implications. W.I.T.C.H. had thought it would've been enough to lure her back there, Ahri not being able to withstand the idea that she could get to know more of her parents. However, Ahri showed how strong-willed she was and, only at the last second, had she allowed aid from outside her circle of trust to help her. He had to admit he liked that feature of her.

Suddenly, a thought hit him, why didn't she show that strong will when those people hit her? Why did she so easily give up when he had told her that she shouldn't kill those innocent people? A question he would ask her later, when she woke up again. He noticed a small mark on the back of her shoulder. The tissue of her clothes were slightly ripped apart, revealing the mark. He saw Taranee looking at it as well. Taranee didn't say anything, but her face showed that she was interested in what it might be.

Cornelia thought of their room. She'd love the feeling of the shower water falling gently on her skin, washing away the filth that was Rockwell. She'd brush her teeth as well to remove that awful taste in her mouth. She breathed in her hand and then smelled it. It smelled bad. She sighed. These kind of assassinations weren't her most preferred. She liked the subtlety in this kill, but it could've been done so much better. She knew Taranee would think the same. But, contrary to Taranee, she knew it couldn't be changed anymore, so she didn't really care much. She got the order from Will to make it a slow and painful death. And it would've been if they had left at that point. But she had been forced to do it faster. Oh well. She looked out of the window and felt how the golden rays of sun gently warmed her skin and shone through her hair, giving it a slightly golden shine. She sighed and lay her head back, enjoying the gentle touch of the sun's rays.

Will saw Morgan look at Ahri. She closed her eyes and smiled wryly. She had looked at them once and she knew it. She doubted if Morgan could see it, or Ahri for that matter. Ahri would probably be to stubborn to admit that somebody could actually love her, and Morgan would not admit it either. He'd probably think it was his own fault of tormenting her first. Not that she cared. She had given up on love a year ago. She felt herself get mad as she thought of it. Matt had broken up with her in the park, after arranging a date with her there. How foolish could a boy be to ask someone for a date and then dump her during it? She had been shocked at that time and she had been sad the week after that. But Matt didn't even care for all that. He had left Heatherfield after said date. To begin a new life as a rocker in Hollywood. She clenched her fists. She breathed slowly to get her anger in control. Since that time, she'd known it. You can trust your friends, but a lover…if he's done with you, he'll smash your heart into pieces. She had to admit one thing, though. Matt had taught her to be strong. She had become stronger after their break-up. Mentally, that is. But she couldn't help but think: would their love be different than mine? She slightly shook her head and looked at Taranee, who was looking interested at Ahri's mark. Will noticed the mark as well. She was interested, but not too much. She thought that Taranee would tell her everything after she had found out what it was. She could see the HQ come closer, as they flew towards the setting sun, into Satellite. Will crossed her arms. She'd report to Giovanni as they'd arrive.

They flew on and after a few minutes they were hovering over the HQ. The rood opened itself, sliding into the walls, and the George the Helicopter landed.

"There we are."

The doors opened themselves and they got out, thanking George.

"No need to thank me, girls." George said with a dignified voice.

As they left the garage, they split up. Morgan would bring Ahri to her room together with Irma, who wanted to check on Ahri one more time. Taranee, Cornelia and Hay-Lin would already go to their own room, while Will would fill Giovanni in about what happened.

Morgan walked towards Ahri's room, Irma at his side. As he opened the door, he saw Jack watching TV. Ez was sitting right next to him, not interested in the TV at all, but focused on the glasses, turning a screw with a screwdriver. They both looked at who was coming in. When they saw Ahri laying in Morgan's arms, their eyes became grim.

"What happened?" Jack asked with a slight hint of fear.

"She was recognized and got attacked. Her wound are healed now, due to Irma, but she needs rest." Morgan said. "Where's Ahri's bedroom?"

Jack pointed towards the master bedroom and Morgan and Irma went in. Morgan lay Ahri on the bed. She cringed slightly as she hit the bed. Irma lay a hand on her head and spread a soothing aura. Ahri relaxed.

"So, Morgan, what are you thinking of right now?" Irma suddenly asked.

"Excuse me?" Morgan asked surprised.

"You heard me." Irma said with a smile.

Morgan sighed and looked at her. "If she'd be alright. But so were you, probably. It's nothing. I'm just concerned about a friend. It's natural."

"Oh," Irma said, "It's natural alright."

Morgan rose an eyebrow. Irma sighed as she noticed he didn't get it.

"Boys."

Morgan rolled his eyes. "A girl's excuse for everything."

Irma looked at him and rose an eyebrow. "More an excuse for a boy's stupidity."

Morgan snickered. "We can do stupid things. But so can girls."

Irma sighed. "This is exactly what I mean. I don't mean in real stupidity."

Irma rolled her eyes as she saw how Morgan seemed to not understand. "Never mind. Forget it."

She took her hand of Ahri's forehead. "She'll be fine. If she just rests for two days everything will be okay."

Irma rose. She noticed Morgan looking at Ahri with a puzzled look.

"About the question you asked earlier…" He started, "Why do you think she suddenly quit her about-to-be-rampage when I said so? I mean, normally she's so stubborn. Why didn't she show any of that at the time?"

Irma thought and then shrugged. "I don't know. Why don't you ask her when she wakes up? If anyone knows the answer, she does, right?"

Irma walked away, while Morgan kept staring at Ahri's face, which was straight, with her mouth slightly open. He got closer and went on his knees. He spoke softly.

"Why did you do that, Ahri?" He kept his gaze focused on her eyes, which stayed shut. Unknowingly, he reached out to her and caressed her face with two fingers. He then went a bit lower and had his fingers in her neck. His gaze fell on his fingers and he saw what he was doing. He wanted to retract them when a voice spoke behind him.

"Liking the view now, are we?"

Morgan didn't respond. He rose and turned around, his coat swaying a bit.

"I didn't look at something at all." He said, his eyes squeezed a bit. "I'm off to my room."

Irma smiled as he passed by. '_Of course you didn't, Morgan.'_

She left the room as well. Ez looked at them as they left, while Jack was watching TV, not paying attention to his surroundings at all. Ez then turned his gaze to Ahri's room, where he saw her laying on her bed with a small smile on her face. He raised his eyebrow, but deduced that she was just having a good dream.

Will walked towards Giovanni's room. Once there, she knocked the door.

"Enter."

Will breathed slowly and then sighed. She knew what was coming. She opened the door and entered the room. She raised an eyebrow. Giovanni was sitting at his desk, as usual, but he had only looked up at her. He had seen it was her and had then got back to the work which was laying in front of him. This wasn't how she knew him. Normally he was anxiously waiting for their return. So that he could try his luck again…

"Ah, it's you. I was already expecting you to come by soon." Giovanni said, not looking away from his desk.

"Cut the crap, Gio. Both you and I know that this'll be some sort of trick from you again."

Giovanni raised an eyebrow and sat back, finally looking at her. "Oh, is it now? How can you be so sure? Perhaps I'm busy with something extremely important, my angel."

Will raised her hand and shot some lightning at him. He cringed. "How many times," Will started, slowly, in a cold voice, "have I told you to not, and I repeat, _not_ call me 'angel'?"

A grin appeared on Giovanni's face. "Does the time I started with 'ang…' count? Because you interrupted me there, saying that, if I would continue, you'd come to me in my sleep and cut my balls off."

Will snickered. "Ah, thanks for reminding me that I would do that."

Giovanni smiled at her. "You've already been at my bed in the middle of the night with a knife. I think once is enough, thank you."

Will slowly walked towards him. "Rockwell," she started, softly, "has been eliminated. We were nearly discovered, due to somebody recognizing Ahri, but they're now stashed below the floor of the building. Rockwell wasn't stashed there, we need the world to know that he is dead, don't we. Ahri got injured, but she's attended to by Irma."

Giovanni listened carefully. Will knew this was the only thing of the reports that he _wasn't_ really paying attention. She knew that he actually wasn't _listening_ carefully. No, he was looking at her carefully. He had already indicated before that he wanted her body. But she wasn't planning on letting him have that. He could go straight to hell if it was her choice. Which it actually was. She was much stronger than him, which had been established multiple times before and would, surely, be established this time again. She wondered why she hadn't taken control of it all yet. For some unknown reason, she felt as if she needed him. But she couldn't see what for.

"We need to be more careful." Giovanni suddenly said, interrupting her train of thought. "Ahri makes the operations much more dangerous. From now on, I'll send you to areas populated by the 'higher' classes of the city. There will, most likely, be less people who know who Ahri really is."

Will was impressed. He did actually seem to care for Ahri's wellbeing.

Giovanni looked at her. "Come, Will. Let's play a little game of poker."

Will smiled at him. So it was on. "Fine. I shall play this game."

Giovanni smiled back at her and got out some cards. He shuffled the cards in an explicit manner and he did it at least three times. At last, he cut the deck of cards.

Will yawned. "Done with your act? Then let's start."

Giovanni dealt two cards to both of them, but let the blinds out.

"That would make it too complicated for a woman." He said, an accent of a laugh clearly audible.

Will looked at her cards, a 10 of hearts and a queen of spades.

"So, Will. Got some good cards?" Giovanni said with a small grin, receiving a grin as well.

"Perhaps. Do you?"

"Perhaps. Let's see who wins the first round, shall we, dear?"

With that, Giovanni took three cards of the deck and lay them on the table. An eight of diamonds, a nine of diamonds and a jack of diamonds.

Giovanni nodded approvingly. "So, you withdrawing, sugarplum?"

Will raised an eyebrow. "What's that? Never heard of that. Now, lay down the other damn cards already." She said, slightly irritated by the lack of speed in this game.

"Now, now, don't get hasty. Just enjoy the game, pumpkin." He said, as he slowly turned around a card.

"Didn't I also tell you before that I don't want to be called pumpkin. Or should I remind you of the pet name _your_ mother gave you, my smiley jelly bear?" Will said with an evil grin.

Giovanni's smile faded and he quickly turned around the last card. Another jack, now from clubs, and an eight of clubs.

Will showed her hand. "Flush."

Giovanni showed his hand, two nines, spades and clubs. "Full house." Giovanni snickered. "I have told you before, this is not a game for women, sugarplum. Maybe if it would be more luck based you could stand a chance."

"And I told you to stop the nicknames, jelly bear. And if this isn't a game for women then tell me, what is? Then we'll play that. After all, if it's a game for women…" She said, slowly raising. She bent over. She noticed how Giovanni's eyes quickly went to her cleavage and back to her eyes. "Then _you_, a man of power and wisdom, shouldn't have any problems beating me, right? So, let's Blackjack."

Giovanni raised an eyebrow. "And how is that a women's game?" He asked, slightly interested.

"It's a game about luck. And we women need _luck_ to win at a game, right? So it's the perfect game for us to play. So, are you in, or are you out, jelly bear?" She said with a malicious grin, her eyes shooting fire.

Giovanni always got a strange feeling at the sight of those hazel brown eyes. As if she was looking inside his soul, trying to find that which would grant her victory in this taunt-fest. Their rules were clear, though unwritten. The first one to lose his or her cool lost. Giovanni had won the very first games, but only because Will didn't know he was playing this game. Then, Will changed to a more cold personality a year ago. And then she started to win their small game. He had since then used their game for his own fun, and to strengthen Will.

"Count me in, babe." He said, seeing the fire in her eyes lit up and her grin widening.

"Then let's do it. Let's play a little game." Will said.

Will took the deck of cards and the cards which were on the table. She shuffled the deck and dealt both herself and Giovanni two cards in one swift motion.

They both looked at their cards.

Will took the deck again and looked at Giovanni, who stared back.

"Card." Will lay down a six. "Quit."

Will looked at her cards again. "Card."

She lay down a two. "Card." She lay down another two. "Card." She lay down a six.

"Quit." Will said, looking back up to Giovanni. "So, do you want to show your cards first, or shall I?"

Giovanni rose an eyebrow. "You shall, dear."

Will showed her cards, consisting of two fives and the cards she had drawn. "Twenty."

Giovanni smiled. "Well played, Will. Nineteen." He revealed a six and a seven.

Will took the cards and shuffled them back into the deck. "We'll just keep on starting from the beginning. That's easier for me, right?"

"Right." Giovanni said.

They played a few games, which resulted in both of them winning at an equal rate.

Eventually, they were both getting bored.

"That's it." Will said, slightly irritated. "This game will decide it all. I have other things to do as well, Gio."

Giovanni was bored as well, which he noticed from her tone that she was as well, but didn't actually want the game to quit before they had a real winner.

"Very well," he started, "but then, this game, we will also conclude our little game, Snuggles."

He saw how Will cringed at that nickname, but then quickly restored herself again. He snickered. He knew that her dormouse was called Huggles. Which was given to her by Matt. Who had dumped her. It was one of his trump cards.

"Fine. Have it your way."

Will dealt the cards again.

They both looked at their cards and immediately turned them round. "Blackjack."

They looked at each other. They both rose an eyebrow.

"We agreed that this would be the last game." Will said slowly, her voice getting colder with every word, trying to intimidate him.

"Indeed we did." Giovanni said, just as slow.

They glared at each other.

"We'll each draw a card from the deck, until one of us has a card that's higher than the card the other has. Does that sound good to you?" Will said coldly.

"Yes it does, Snuggles." Giovanni said.

Again, that cringe. A sign of victory coming within his grasp, yet still being able to slip through his fingers.

"You have to realize that the winner is now down to who has the most luck. And, after all, a woman can win a game, but only if based on luck." Giovanni said.

"And that would make it less fair, because…?" Will said with an implying voice.

Giovanni saw what she meant and had to snicker. "Let's do this."

They both drew a card. Both were a six. Their eyes squeezed together. They drew again. Two Kings.

They were slowly losing their temper. Both of them. They were annoyed by each other, they were exhausted after an entire day and they both were bored now. Yet, their own game was seemingly not letting either of them win.

'_Well then,'_ both thought at the same time, _'it's a stand of off power. We haven't done that before.'_

Both started to throw projectiles, which were in the room, at each other. Will used her powers of Quintessence to make things move while Giovanni used his levitation powers.

A flower pot was flung to Giovanni's head, but he blocked it with a photo frame. Giovanni then flung a record-sleeve towards Will, but a sword, which was hanging on the wall with another sword in the shape of an X, quickly flew towards it and cut it in half. More objects started to fly through the room, hitting each other before they could reach their targets. The sword Will was controlling was slicing through most of the debris that were flung at Will by accident, while Giovanni got one of his curtains to protect him. Both where still drawing cards.

Two fours…two sevens… two threes…

They had long ago taken their gaze of off the cards, they were more focused on each other. They both tried to find out if their 'opponent' was showing signs of weakness. Because, as everyone ought's to know, when a sign of weakness is detected, you turn up the heat. Your assaults will become stronger, trying to break through the opponent. And finally, one thing will go through. Which will indicate you have won…

Two twos…two eights…two twos…

Giovanni also took a sword, which was also hanging in the X-shape, and used it to attack Will's sword. When they met, all other objects stopped. These were the weapons of choice. When one of these got past the other, the owner of that sword had won.

Both smiled at each other.

"It's time to see who has actually won both the card game, as well as our little game." Will said, smiling.

"Indeed. So no more chatting about." Giovanni said, making use of the situation to strike Will's sword.

Will quickly retorted by going full offense. A relentless assault of strikes and slashes. Steel met steel and an echo was heard throughout the room. The swords kept slashing and hacking at each other. Both kept their focus at the swords, trying to remain calm. They squeezed their eyes out of focus. Will seemed more in control and more focused than Giovanni.

"You should just give up, really." Will said. "My Quintessence is much more powerful than your levitation crap."

Giovanni smiled at her. He knew it was true. "I can always try."

Will decided to end it.

Two queens…two eights…two sevens…

Will's blade struck Giovanni's blade and hit it with such force that it got shot away. At the same time, they both drew a card from the deck of cards. It were the last two. Will drew an ace, while Giovanni drew a Queen. They looked at each other. Will smiled maliciously, while Giovanni showed no emotion. They looked at each other for a while. Eventually, Will rose.

"It's time I go, Gio. I'll see you later. It's been fun."

Giovanni smiled at her. "You go back to your kitchen."

Will walked towards the door, showing no emotion. Then she whispered in a cold voice, with a malicious undertone.

"I'd watch your tongue, Gio. After all, there are a lot of knives in a kitchen."

Suddenly, she changed her voice to have a very friendly and warm tone. "Sleep well!"

She went out, leaving Giovanni with large eyes. He thought it would be best to sleep with one eye open tonight.

As soon as Will had left the room, she sighed. She was exhausted. When she got to their room, she would take a shower and then immediately go to bed. She saw Irma coming closer.

"Hey, I heard from the girls that you hadn't come back yet, so I thought I'd check by. How was your little date with Gio. Has it been fun?"

Will gave Irma a grim look that made Irma step back a bit.

"I choose to take that as a no."

Will sighed. "Sorry, Irma. It's been a long day and then he made it even tougher. I am exhausted. It is not my intention to look so mean at you."

Irma smiled at her. "Don't worry. I've gotten used to it. After you come back from Gio you're always a bit…angry. But I can understand why. Mind wars are dangerous."

Will came to stand next of her and they walked to their room. "You know all about that, don't you?"

Irma faked shock. "Math is evil! You can't deny that!"

Will laughed. "Indeed it is."

They arrived at their room and opened the door. As soon as they entered, they got into an argument.

"…simply to dangerous! She's endangering our identities." Cornelia said.

"And you're judging that after one day? Who are you to decide after one day? You mustn't generalize things simply because it happened once. And both you and I know that the cause was that _one_, and I repeat, one, woman knew who she was." Taranee retorted.

Will came closer and they became silent. "What's going on here?"

"Cornelia is judging Ahri. Because she nearly blew our cover, she claims it's too dangerous to take her with us. And she wants us to dump her." Hay-Lin answered.

Will looked at Cornelia. "Is that so?"

Cornelia didn't respond.

"Well then," Will said, "Do I have to remember you about the time you took the Heart?"

Cornelia cringed at that memory. She had taken the Heart and had gone to Meridian to try and convince Elyon that she was good. Elyon, at that time under the impression that they, as the Guardians, were evil due to manipulation by her brother Phobos, then had her imprisoned. The remainder of W.I.T.C.H. had then come to save her.

"Did we throw you out after that, even though it was really stupid what you did? No, we didn't. We forgave you." Will then was silent for a while. "You know that she couldn't do anything about it. Besides, it has already been decided that, because most 'lower-class' people know her, we're only going to the richer parts of town. And you love that part, don't you? So in fact she's helping you out."

Cornelia smiled at the thought. "I may have been a bit hasty with my conclusion. You're right. You are both right, Taranee, Will."

Will smiled at her and then noticed her exhaustion. "I'm going to take a shower and then I'm gonna hit the bed."

She took some underwear and went to the bathroom.

...

Morgan was sitting on his bed in his pyjamas. They were red. He was in thought. Why had Ahri stopped. He refused to acknowledge love as an option. They barely knew each other. So it seemed only fair to not acknowledge that as an option. How hard he thought, he couldn't find an answer. Apparently, it was the truth that only Ahri could tell him, as had been pointed out to him by Irma before. He thought it was ironic that now she tormented him with this question, after he at first had tormented her in much of the same way, as she had the questions and he held the answers to them. Or, better said, he and W.I.T.C.H. held the answers.

He heard a knock on the door. Who on Earth would knock on his door at this time? He went to the door and opened it, only to see a hooded figure standing in front of him.

"Hello, Morgan. It's been a while." She said.

Morgan smiled. "So you took the decency of knocking for once, instead of randomly appearing in my room."

He couldn't see her face, but he was sure he heard a small hint of a laugh. The cloaked figure went in and looked around, most likely checking if they were alone. When she was satisfied, she looked at Morgan and spoke: "So, I have heard the Nine-tails was on a rampage this evening, somewhere in a club owned by some guy called Rockwell. He seems to be dead now."

Morgan's eyes widened. "How do you know that? W.I.T.C.H. got rid of all the witnesses."

Again, a hint of laughter. "All the witnesses? Maybe you have missed one…anyway, I have my contacts. But, is it true? Has _she_ been on a rampage?"

Morgan shook his head. "No. She had used some of her psychic power to flip a disk jockey stand, but that's it. They attacked her in a rage after I had convinced her to not attack them. But, at the time, I didn't think they would attack her anymore. She didn't fight back at all…"

"So," the cloaked figure said. "She got hurt and you blame yourself. And now you're doubting about why she didn't fight back after you said she shouldn't attack them."

Morgan looked at her, intrigued by her knowledge. "How do you know all this?"

"It's all in the tone of your voice. But you really should try to find out. I want to know as well, you see. I expect an answer to that question next time. But, now to why I'm here. I'm here to give you some more instructions. After the near discovery, I have to give you orders to be more careful. Try to look for signs if somebody might recognize her. Remember, we must keep her safe."

Morgan nodded. "I understand. And I will protect her. I am her friend, and that's what friends do."

The cloaked figure nodded. "Good. I expect to not hear of a rampaging fox-girl anymore, okay? It might, no, it _will_ endanger the missions executed by the girls, and it will endanger her as well. We can't have that. And try to figure out that answer. It might be of importance."

Morgan nodded. The cloaked figure seemingly wanted to leave, so Morgan opened the door for her. She stepped out and before he closed the door, she said one last thing.

"I must say, Morgan, that she is quite beautiful."

At this, Morgan reddened unknowingly. The hooded figure didn't even care to hid her laughter. Morgan then closed the door and went to bed.

**[A/N] That was it for this time. Morgan again got visited by that cloaked lady. Who is she? I tried making Will a bit cold against boys, Matt in particular. Anyway, leave a review about the chapter. Did you like it? I'm intrigued to know.**


	4. Chapter 4: Just the luck of the Draw

**[A/N] First of all, I want to say sorry. Sorry that it took so long, that is. I had a lot of things to do with the university and such. But now (finally) it's here: a new chapter of Dawn of the Nine-Tails. I hope everyone had a great Halloween. But now, on with the story! [A/N]**

A ray of sunshine came through the window. Ahri got under her bed sheet. She murmured something unpleasant towards the sun. As if the sun had heard her, birds started singing to mark the beginning of the day. She grumbled and threw away the bed sheet. She stuck her feet in her slippers and rose. She could hear Jack snoring, but Ez was quiet. When she entered the room, she saw Ez sitting at the table, bend over some papers.

"Ez?" she asked sleepily, "Why are you up and dressed this early?"

Ez turned around. He was clearly very much awake.

"Oh, nothing." He said, putting the papers in a file folder.

Ahri knew it wasn't the case, but she also knew that Ez would say it eventually, when he thought the time was right. Maybe he was doing research and if he told her something that wasn't correct, maybe he would look stupid in her eyes. She knew that she would never think he was stupid, but she thought he might not know that.

"So, what do you want for breakfast?" Ez asked, placing the file folder in a closet. "Pancakes?"

Ahri rose an eyebrow.

"You know how to make pancakes?"

Ez looked at her and smiled. "I found it in that book over there. It also said you could put in some of you own ingredients. For you, I was thinking about salami, ham, pepperoni…"

He didn't have to continue, as he saw Ahri was watering.

"You can really make that?" she asked, her eyes sparkling.

"I can try." Ez said.

So, while Ahri was dressing herself and brushing her teeth, Ez tried making pancakes. As you could have expected of a seven year old trying to cook for the first time, without any guidance of a parent or older person, he failed horribly. He threw away his second pancake, and sighed. A knock was heard on the door. Jack sleepily got out of his room, seemingly not even noticing Ez, who was just watching him, and Jack opened the door. Morgan was standing in front of it. He was wearing blue jeans, a beige trunk and a black vest with black shoes.

"I smelled something awful coming from the room," Morgan said as he entered the room, while Ez sighed, "What has happened here?"

Jack pointed towards Ez as he went back to his room to fall asleep again. Morgan rose an eyebrow and gazed at Ez, who shrugged.

"So, what have you been doing?" Morgan asked.

"I tried to make pancakes with salami or ham for Ahri, but I failed." Ez said, rather disappointed.

Morgan smiled and went through the boy's hair. "And, what have you cooked before?"

Ez stayed silent for a while. "…...sandwiches?"

Morgan sighed. "Here, I'll help you."

Morgan took the ingredients needed for a pancake, while letting Ez help him throughout the process. As Morgan was cooking the first one, Ahri entered. She wore blue jeans, a red T-shirt with short sleeves and beige shoes. She sniffed in the air, like a cat would do.

"What's that smell?" She asked.

Ez blushed. "Nothing."

Ahri assumed she knew what had happened, as she saw Morgan cooking. He gave her a smile, which seemed a bit uncomfortable, and she smiled back. As she smiled at him, he quickly turned his head away. She rose an eyebrow and went to sit at the table.

"Now, Ez. Do you and your brother want a pancake first, or should…?" Morgan started.

Suddenly, Jack rushed out of his room in his pajamas.

"Pancakes!"

Morgan grinned and gave Jack and Ez their pancakes first. As he attended the children, he was constantly being watched by Ahri, who was looking at him without blinking, or so it would seem.

He gave Ahri a pancake with salami and she smiled at him. She was sure he became red, but he quickly turned away again and made some more. He eventually also made one for himself and ate the last one with them. Ahri kept glaring at him and Morgan awkwardly smiled at her. She took a bite of her pancake, revealing her small fang-like teeth. Morgan couldn't help but watching how she was eating, and he knew she had noticed. He secretly hoped something would happen to break the tension.

Ahri was thinking. She wasn't really aware that she was looking at Morgan, except that he was watching her eating. She had to admit that the way she ate the pancake was kinda weird. She would eat it as if it was meat. But she had been amazed by the fact that Morgan could cook. She was…somehow impressed. She didn't really know why.

Somebody knocked on the door. Morgan quickly rose, glad something happened, and opened the door. W.I.T.C.H. was standing in the door opening. They came in one by one, Will being the last. She noticed the pancakes and looked at Morgan.

"Trying to impress a certain someone?"

Morgan reddened. "What, no! Why do you constantly think that? The kids wanted pancakes and Ez couldn't do it, so I helped him." He whispered to Will.

"I think that, because you've become as red as my hair." She said, walking towards the rest of the group.

Taranee smelled the air. "What's that foul smell that's lingering around? I can smell pancakes, surely, but there's another smell as well."

Ez reddened. "I tried to make pancakes and failed."

Taranee laughed. "So, our young super genius can upgrade advanced weapons, with Jack's help, of course, but he can't make pancakes?"

Ez pouted. "Don't mock me."

It was to no avail. Irma had smelled something to make fun of and would take every opportunity she would get. However, Ahri quickly intervened and shut her up, not wanting her to mock her brothers.

At that time, Will left the room. She went to Giovanni for a meeting. A _real_ meeting, not a game of intimidation.

The rest of the group hang out in Ahri's room, playing around with Jack while Ez showed Taranee some of the stuff he had been working on. When Will came back, she said Giovanni had received information about someone, but didn't know if it was true. He would contact one of them when he had verified the information.

So, they decided they would play a card game. As Ez and Jack also wanted to play along, they decided to play an easy card game: quartet.

Will shuffled the deck of cards and handed everyone 5 cards. There were 7 cards still in the deck, which was laid on the table.

They agreed that Will was allowed to start, just this once, since she hadn't been around while they were all having fun. Will looked at everyone intriguingly for two seconds. Eventually, she started.

"Ahri, 4 of Hearts."

Ahri looked at her, clearly surprised. "As a matter of fact, I do have that one."

She handed the card to Will.

"Taranee, 4 of Spades."

Taranee rose an eyebrow as she handed Will the card.

"Morgan, 4 of Clubs."

Morgan sighed as he handed her the card.

"Quartet." Will said with a smile, sounding triumphant. "And if I'm correct, the rules allow me to keep asking for cards, right?"

Morgan nodded.

"Excellent," Will said, "then you can give me the Queen of Hearts, Diamonds and Spades."

Morgan looked surprised. "How did you…?"

He reluctantly gave her the cards.

"Quartet."

She now held three cards in her hand.

"Ez," she said, smiling, as Ez awkwardly grinned back, "two of Diamonds."

Ez pouted while giving her the card.

"Irma, two of Clubs, Cornelia, two of Hearts."

Irma and Cornelia looked at each other and sighed. They gave the cards to Will.

"Quartet."

"Jack," she said, as Jack smiled, "The ace of Spades and Clubs."

"Ahri, the Ace of Diamonds."

Ahri's eyes darkened as she handed the card.

"Quartet."

"Now…only one card left in my hand…" Will said, slowly, "Cornelia…"

Cornelia sighed.

"The 6 of Hearts."

Cornelia handed Will the card.

"Irma, the 6 of Diamonds."

Irma handed Will the card, pouting.

Will smiled as she accepted the card. She then grinned as she went past all the faces of the rest of the group. However, the grin disappeared when she asked:

"Morgan, the 6 of Clubs."

Morgan rose his eyebrows.

"I don't have that one."

Will sighed, but everybody could see it was fake.

"Ah, that's a pity. I guess I'll just draw from the deck then."

Taranee sighed and rested on her left hand.

"I see what you did there."

Will smiled at Taranee as she drew a card.

"Quartet." She said, as the rest sighed. "I guess I'll just draw another one then."

She drew a card.

"Hey," Jack said, getting everyone's attention, "If you have 5 quartets and there are 13 in the entire game, doesn't that mean our chances of winning are now greatly decreased?"

"Yes," Morgan said, "yes it is."

It was Taranee's turn. She looked at her hand. She had the 7 of Hearts, Spades and Clubs, as well as the jack of Spades. She looked at Will, already having gotten 5 quartets in the first turn, she knew her chances of winning were slim, if they existed at all.

She turned to Will, who was looking at her hand.

'_I wonder what she's thinking about right now.'_ Taranee wondered.

'_Don't ask the seven of Hearts, don't ask the seven of Hearts don't ask the Seven of Hearts!'_ She suddenly heard in her head.

Taranee looked at Will and smiled, making Will smile at her as well, although Will's smile was evidently not a happy one.

"Will, the 7 of Hearts."

Will looked at her cards and sighed. She then smiled.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have that one."

Taranee looked confused. She had too have that card, because she had the…other… She looked at her cards and saw it, the 7 of Hearts. It had been in her own hand all along, yet because of Will's thoughts…She had been played with.

'_That's what you get for cheating, Taranee. I guess the joke's on you.'_ Will said telepathically.

'_That wasn't my intention! I was wondering what you were thinking of, and that stopped the blockade I create when playing games or am doing tests. Please, don't tell the rest that this happened.'_ Taranee pleaded.

'_You're lucky I'm such a nice girl.'_ Will responded.

Eveyone's turn passed and it was Will's turn again.

"Taranee, I'm sure you can help me with this." She said, with a grin on her face, causing Taranee to sigh.

"I think I'm sure as well."

"Well," Will said, "then you can start by giving me all the 7's you have. Or, to be more precise, the 7 of Hearts, Spades and Clubs."

Taranee handed over the cards.

"Wait," Irma said, "Didn't you ask the 7 of Hearts to Will?"

Taranee smiled wryly.

"I accidentally asked the wrong card." She said as she looked darkly at Will.

"Quartet." Will said.

Jack pouted.

"Well, Will now has 6 quartets. We might as well give up."

The rest of the group agreed. The chance that one of them would get 7 quartets was very low, and even then, Will might still get more quartets. And seeing how easily she had gotten these 6, that would be very likely.

Will smiled and leaned back in her chair, while the rest of the group went to watch a TV-show. Ahri looked at her, clearly intrigued. Will rose an eyebrow, indicating that Ahri could ask her what she was thinking about.

"How did you know what everyone had?" Ahri asked.

Will shrugged. "I don't know. It was just a feeling. And that one with drawing the fourth card…I didn't get a feeling from any of you, so it had to be in the deck. At least, if my feeling was correct. And my feelings had been correct for the entire game, so…I decided to risk it. And it worked out. I guess it's because I've played so many games with Gio, that I have become so good at playing games."

"Do you play a lot of different games with him?" Ahri asked, clearly interested.

"Yes. If he can't win, he doesn't want to play that game the next time. So he keeps picking other games, until he has forgotten that he has played that game with me already. And that he lost while doing so." Will said with a grin, making Ahri shake her head.

Will looked at Ahri and Ahri looked back. Suddenly, Ahri started to grin and came closer. Will got a bit nervous.

"Eh…Ahri? What are you…?"

"I have wanted to practice for a while now…" Ahri said slowly, with the grin growing bigger.

"If that's what you wish for…Who am I to defy that request?"

Will got up and walked to the door, Ahri on her heels.

"Hey, where are you off to?" Morgan asked.

"Doing girl stuff. So please, let us be." Will said with a harsh voice, letting I.T.C.H. know that they didn't have to come along.

With that they left the room. Ahri waved at Morgan before they left. As soon as she couldn't see him anymore, he became red.

"Those are up to something…" he murmured.

Will led Ahri to her favourite training room. She went to a picture and looked to see if no-one was around. She picked up the picture and saw a small lock.

"Quintessence."

The lock disappeared into the wall and the wall disappeared.

"Enter." Will said with a gesture to the hole. Ahri passed through. Will entered as well.

"Quintessence." She whispered.

Slowly, the wall reappeared. Will and Ahri walked down the stairs behind the hole and they could hear the picture go back to its original position. Will looked over her shoulder and smiled. Ahri looked at her.

"Nothing." Will said.

They came to an arena. Ahri looked around in amazement.

"What do you think. Pretty sweet, huh?" Will asked.

The arena was made out of the four elements. Obviously, the arena was made out of earth. With air, lines had been carved into it. Water surrounded the arena with a small river and fire lit the arena. Ahri looked down and saw a black fish in the water, steadily going along with the stream. After a short while, she saw a white fish doing the same thing.

"It's amazing. But what are those fish doing here, so deep underground?"

Will smiled. "Every elements is here, and we wanted to add mine as well. So we got two fish here and I gave them more energy. They are now encircling the arena, each opposite to the other, in an eternal dance."

Ahri looked confused. "I don't understand."

"My element is Quintessence, energy. I gave these fish more energy. They now both swim around the arena. If one is going under this little bridge, connecting this arena with the staircase, the other is as the other end at the exact same time. Then, the second fish comes down here and the other one is at the spot the first fish was at first. They continue this until I desire to stop that." Will explained.

"That's amazing." Ahri said.

Will smiled. She crossed the bridge, quickly followed by Ahri. Will walked to the other side of the arena and got on one knee, her back turned towards Ahri. Ahri noticed Will wasn't planning on saying more and took the same position. Will rose again and immediately turned. Ahri heard it, even though it was a long distance and did the same. Will smiled at her and looked at Ahri from under her hair.

"Remember that I'm not fighting to my full extent. My real power is nearly triple of my human form." Will said, receiving a nod from Ahri.

"I'll remember that." Ahri said. "Fox fire."

Three small blue flames suddenly appeared in the air. They started circling around Ahri.

Will rose an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"You will find out soon enough. Just come closer." Ahri said with a smile, receiving one back from Will.

Will rose her hand and shot lightning at Ahri. Ahri quickly jumped to the left.

"I'd rather stay away."

Ahri smiled and rose her own hand. A small orb appeared in her hand.

She whispered something in a foreign language as she shot the orb towards Will.

Will quickly dove to the left. Ahri dashed towards her, triggering the fox fire. The small flame that was closest to Will at that moment started to shoot fire at her. Will made a back flip to dodge and shot lightning at Ahri. Ahri jumped, but was now close to a wall. She wouldn't escape an attack now. At least, a regular human wouldn't. Will shot lightning again, thinking she had Ahri cornered. However, Ahri got out all 9 of her tails and used them to jump high in the air and then used three of her tails to fire her towards Will. She created an orb in her hand and fired it right in front of her. Will quickly jumped to the right, dodging the orb. The orb crashed into the ground and left a small crater along with smoke and dust. Out of the smoke came Ahri, jumping towards Will with a smile on her face. Her eyes were burning and she _was_ going to get Will once.

Will created a lightning field around her as she yelled out, hitting Ahri and knocking her back. Ahri used her tails to soften her fall and she landed on her hands and toes. Will shot lightning at Ahri as she was now partly immobilized and Ahri used her tails as a defense. Will kept shooting lightning at her, when suddenly three small flames came shooting towards her. Will leapt away as the small flames exploded into a fiery tornado. Will then sprinted to the wall as Ahri got up and unleashed more flames, sending them after Will. Will leapt and started running over the wall, as she let a kunai slip down from her sleeve into her hand. Ahri's eyes glowed blue and she threw the rocks that had come loose from the explosion of the orb towards Will with her psychic abilities. Will threw the kunai at the rocks and they shattered, then fell towards the ground. Will's kunai shot right towards Ahri, who didn't move in the slightest. Only at the last second she suddenly jumped and flipped, the kunai going past her right in front of her eyes. As soon as she landed, she started a counter attack.

The blue flames were hunting Will, who kept running along the wall. The flames licked her heels and exploded into fiery tornadoes, trying to suck Will in and throw her towards the ground. Will let a kunai fall out of her other sleeve.

"Quintessence."

The kunai came to life and got close to the flames, letting them explode. The kunai then shot towards Ahri, who dodged it. However, her hair was caught by the kunai and a piece of it was cut of. Ahri saw how the hairs slowly flew through the air, heading for the ground. She heard Will to her right. Will formed a small ball of lightning in her hand and shot it at Ahri as Will passed her on the wall. Ahri fired an orb at the ball of lightning and an explosion ensued. Smoke covered the arena. As the smoke subdued, Will and Ahri were both standing on the ground, looking in each other's direction. Both had a smile on their face, though it was easily noticeable that both were very concentrated. Both were scanning the other with their eyes, both having that cold look that would send shivers down your spine if they would be looking at you.

Lightning crackled around Will's right hand, while Ahri's eyes lit blue and had small streams of energy coming from them. Both formed a ball of lightning and an orb, respectively and fired them at each other. The balls didn't collide with each other, instead rushing past each other slightly and going right for Ahri and Will, respectively. Ahri created a barrier around her, formed by her psychic abilties, while Will formed a lightning field to protect her. Both the ball of lightning and the orb crashed into the fields created by their targets and exploded upon contact. Ahri immediately dashed to the wall and used it to propel herself to Will. Will saw her coming and tried to grab Ahri with a lightning covered hand, however, Ahri dashed right in front of her, trying to throw Will to the ground. Ahri quickly dashed away from the ground as Will tried to jump on her. As Will hit the ground, lightning crackled in a small area around her.

"You're not holding back." Ahri said, as she slid down the wall and got back on the floor.

Will got up, lightning crackling through her hair. "Neither are you. So, I fired up the heat."

Ahri smiled. "Well then, I guess I should too."

The flames in the room became bigger, as Ahri's eyes started to lit blue again. Ahri created more blue flames and shot them at Will. Will created a lightning field to protect herself. Ahri kept barraging the same spot, trying to break through. A drop of sweat fell down Will's cheek, as she tried to keep the barrier up. Eventually, the flames broke through. Will jumped aside, as the flames, concentrated at one spot, combined to become an inferno. Will shot lightning at Ahri, who's eyes lit up again and her psychic barrier appeared. The lightning was also concentrated at one particular point. Small cracks began to appear in the barrier. Ahri's eyes started to twitch. It was easily noticed that she couldn't take such a long barrage. The barrier broke, shattered like glass, into pieces. However, Ahri didn't dodge like Will. Instead, she grabbed for her eyes. Will noticed that the lightning was heading right to her and that Ahri couldn't dodge it. She quickly bent the lightning slightly to the left. It shot right past Ahri and crashed into the wall, leaving a black smoking spot in it.

"Ahri, are you alright?" Will said concerned, as she ran towards Ahri.

Ahri nodded slowly. "I'm alright. But I can't keep up the barrier for that long, it is to much of a strain to me. My psychic powers go through my eyes and I can't keep it strained for so long. I have trained myself to get a good maximum, one I thought I would never reach. But in this practice run, you endured longer than my eyes could take."

"Well, we can stop if you want." Will said.

"No. We'll go on, just slightly…different." Ahri said, slowly opening her eyes again, only to find that everything was still blurry.

"Alright. No more concentrated focus. At least, not for a longer amount of time." Will said, receiving a nod from Ahri.

Will went back to her position at the other side of the arena. She looked back at Ahri, who she saw was staring at the entrance to the arena, but nearly unnoticeable, as only her eyes had turned there. Will stared to it as well. So, she knew as well. It didn't really come as a surprise to Will. She had heard what Ahri could do and she had experienced it herself. She also thought that she already knew what Ahri was trying to do.

Ahri got back to her feet and slowly walked to her zone of the arena. Everything was still blurry. She could only see Will's red hair fairly well, as it stood out from the rest of the arena. She deduced that her eyes were of no use now, as she had already suspected. Therefore, she closed them. She turned her head, slowly, from left to right. She tried to hear the air moving. She couldn't hear it. The only thing she could hear was lightning coming from the right…

She moved at the last second. Will saw her make a small twirl to evade the lightning, which shot right past her back, and then turning to face her while Ahri was charging an orb. She immediately shot it towards Will who dodged it by jumping. Will hit the ground again, right to where she had been standing before. Ahri heard it and immediately faced that direction. Will fired lightning at Ahri again, this time straight on. Ahri opened her eyes for a few seconds, glowing blue, and she created a smaller barrier, concentrated at the place the lightning would come from. An explosion ensued as the lightning hit the barrier. However, Ahri was now disoriented. A hand grabbed her left arm and she immediately pulled it towards her right, while making a fist of her right hand and bringing it to her left arm. She felt a hand and heard how two feet left the ground. She felt how the person let her left arm go and how the body used her right hand as a turning point. Ahri tried to hit Will with her tails, but none of them managed to hit her. She heard the two feet hit the ground again, as Ahri fell slightly out of balance to her left. She got pushed to the ground and heard Will cheer.

"First contact. Mine."

Ahri got up. "But you wouldn't have had it now if I had my sight, would you?"

Will laughed. "I shall admit that. I wouldn't have had that now. Perhaps later. Perhaps not."

Ahri smiled. She opened her eyes, yet everything was still blurry.

"You can come out now, Morgan." Will said.

They heard nothing. Will sighed.

"I know you're there."

Morgan got out of the hole and entered the arena.

"How did you know…?"

"Oh, come on, Morgan. I have been trained to notice things rather quickly and Ahri has her naturally improved hearing. And you really thought you could follow us undetected?" Will said, mocking him. "I'm not sure if you're naïve or stupid for thinking that."

Morgan pouted. "I didn't ask for your mockery."

"Indeed you didn't. But it's part of my answer." Will said, walking towards the hole.

Morgan took Ahri's hand, which she accepted. He brought her to the hole and helped her climb the stairs. When they arrived at the wall, Will first checked if nobody was there, through small holes in the wall. Nobody seemed to be there, so Will unlocked the door and they got out. Morgan helped Ahri to her room, while Will followed them, smiling when Morgan couldn't see her. As they entered, they found Jack watching TV, while Irma was gone, Cornelia was reading a book, Hay-Lin was listening to music and Taranee and Ez were playing a game of chess. Everybody looked at Morgan and Ahri.

"What?" Morgan asked.

"Nothing." Hay-Lin said, "just looking at what you've been doing, but I think I can guess now."

"Oh, really?" Ahri asked.

"You've been to our arena, haven't you?" Taranee said, while being concentrated at the game of chess again.

"Yes." Will responded.

"It's highly visible. You're both very dirty. You're covered in dust and dirt everywhere." Cornelia said.

"I'll take a bath soon. Question. Where's Irma?" Will asked.

"To your room. She said she had something to do." Jack responded, not looking away from the TV.

"Okay. Thanks, Jack. I'll be off, then." Will said. She walked to the door and disappeared.

Morgan brought Ahri to her room. He placed her on the bed, where she sat down.

"Morgan?" Ahri asked.

"Hmm?" Morgan responded, looking outside.

"Is it true that I'm dirty?" Ahri asked innocently.

It was a good thing Ahri couldn't see very well at the moment, because Morgan became as red as he could get.

"You're a bit filthy from the dust and dirt, but that's all." He said.

"Could you fill a bath for me, please? I'd do it myself, but…"

"Don't worry," Morgan responded. "I'll do that for you."

Morgan went to the bathroom, which was connected with Ahri's room, as well as Jack's and Ez's. Morgan filled the bath and it was half-way filled, when Ahri called for him. He went back to Ahri's room. He noticed she had managed to get some underwear out of her closet, although, according to the dirt on the floor, it had taken her very long, only finding her way by touch.

"Could you help me?" She said, as she pulled her hair to her front.

She turned around and showed him that there was a zip at the back of her clothes.

"Could you unzip that, please?"

If he thought he had been red before, he was now convinced he was even redder than that. Hell, he became a new color of red that nobody would ever acquire after him.

He touched her slightly and took the zip and slowly brought that down. He heard a slight click at the end, indicating that the top was now split in two.

She turned around and let Morgan help her get to the bath. She stared at him for a moment, before he realized he could leave. He smiled awkwardly at her and then realized she couldn't see it anyway. He then left the room and closed the door.

Morgan went back to the main room.

"I'm an idiot." He mumbled.

"Yep, you are." Cornelia said.

"What took you so long to figure that out?" Said Irma, who had entered the room again.

Morgan pouted.

"Did I ask you to comment?"

"No." said Irma.

"Then shut up!" Morgan said.

"If she has to shut up, does that mean I have to do that as well? Because I could go on about this." Cornelia said.

Morgan facepalmed.

"Women…" He whispered.

"So…why are you an idiot this time." Hay-Lin asked.

"I don't think it's a good idea to tell with Ez and Jack around." Morgan said.

"Oh, come on. They won't even notice it. Jack is caught in that show and Ez is waaaaaaaaaay to busy playing chess. Just watch." Irma said. "Hey Ez, Jack?"

There was no response from either of them.

"See. Nothing to worry about."

"Fine." Said Morgan, while pouting. "I had to help Ahri fill the bath and then I had to help her unzip her shirt. Then I brought her to the bath. She kept staring in my direction, indicating that I could, you know, _leave_! And I didn't catch on to that. Then I smiled awkwardly at her, trying to excuse myself, which she obviously couldn't _see_. I'm such an idiot."

"For not trying to rape her while you could, or didn't that cross your mind?" Irma asked innocently, though with eyes twinkling.

This question immediately caught the attention of Hay-Lin and Cornelia.

"What, no! Why would I think of that?" Morgan said, clearly offended.

"One: you're blushing. Two: you're a man. I think I don't need to state more, do I, girls?" Cornelia said, receiving nods from Irma and Hay-Lin.

Morgan was clearly offended.

"I don't have to justify this. To imply that I would rape Ahri is just…"

"You did _what_?!" Ez suddenly screamed out.

Morgan facepalmed again. "Why do you think I would do that! These three _implied_ I would have done that! I would never do that!"

"You'd better not, or else I'll shoot you through the head!" Ez yelled.

"This is all your fault and…you're enjoying it, aren't you?" Morgan said, seeing Irma, Hay-Lin and Cornelia laugh.

"You bet!" They said, hardly audible above their laughter.

"I hate you guys so much. Remind me why we're friends again?"

"Because you can't get anyone else." Irma said.

"Stop it, Irma." Taranee said. "I have been listening the entire time and you can stop now. Morgan's had enough. For today."

"Thanks, T." Said Morgan with a sigh.

Will came back in with new clothes.

"Hey girls. Morgan, where's Ahri?"

"In the bathroom, but she's…" Morgan started.

"Thanks." Will said, as she started walking towards the bathroom.

Will went in and closed the door behind her.

"Why is she allowed to…?" Morgan started.

"She's a girl." Said Irma.

…

Will entered the bathroom and saw Ahri laying down, with her eyes closed. Foam was covering the water.

"Hi Ahri." Will said.

Ahri was startled and submerged for a second. She came out again and coughed.

"Don't startle me like that!"

"So, I see you got your sight back." Will said.

"No, I grew new eyes!" Ahri's tone was clearly sarcastic.

Will laughed, before she noticed something.

"Why aren't you washing your tails? I mean, they got filthy during our practice run."

Ahri shook her head.

"For this reason."

Ahri got one tail out. Immediately, the water level dropped a little bit and the tail got all fluffy.

"Ah." Will said, "But, if you get one out at a time and I brush and clean it, would that work?"

Ahri thought for a while and rose her eyebrow.

"Well, I guess."

Will got a comb out of a drawer and took a small chair. She sat next of the bath, as Ahri placed the tail on the side of the bath. Will started to comb Ahri's tail.

"Sooooooo…I listened at the door, and I heard Morgan tried to rape you, or something like that."

"What?" said Ahri, reddening and clearly ashamed. "No, he didn't, I…"

"Yes? You did what?" Will said, her eyes twinkling, knowing she was onto something.

Ahri sighed.

"I kinda asked him to unzip my top."

"Aaaaaah." Will said, smiling. "I see…"

"It didn't mean anything! I mean, I couldn't do that, I had blurry vision." Ahri was red.

"Even though you dress yourself every morning without looking at it. Also, you always wear that top. Seriously, you have like 5 of them." Will said, pointing out she wasn't fooled.

Ahri looked away.

"It meant nothing, okay?"

Will looked at Ahri's tail, as she continued brushing it.

"He's a fine man. Caring. Handsome. He can cook too. You noticed how he was around Ez and Jack, didn't you?" said Will.

Ahri exhaled slowly.

"Yes. All of that is true."

"Do you like him?" Will asked.

"I don't know. He's…Just think of it this way. He's the first man I have ever _actually_ met that wasn't my father or Jack or Ez. I constantly ask myself if I'm not fooling myself."

Will nodded. "I can understand that."

"But I feel…something." Ahri said, "Deep down, I feel something. But, is it love? Or just an image? Do I love him, or the fact that I have a man's attention? I'm 16, after all."

Will giggled. It didn't seem like her. Will would laugh, not giggle.

"You will find out. It might take a while, but you'll find out. I can let you in on a secret though."

"A…secret, you say?" Ahri said, turning back to Will, obviously interested. "And what might that be about?"

"About helping you find out." Will said, letting Ahri get interested even more. Ahri retracted her first tail and got the second out, to give Will more work. But Will knew the actual reason. She wanted to know more.

"You got my attention. So, what is it?"

"I can tell you that Morgan reddens every time we mention you. Although he doesn't really acknowledge he loves you. But I can tell. He'll admit it over time." Explained Will.

"How can you be so sure about that?" Ahri asked.

"He's a guy. At first he acts all tough, but he'll realize the truth. You mean a lot to him. I don't know why. I should probably ask." Said Will, looking at Ahri's tail as she brushed it.

Ahri relaxed. The water ran over her body. It was warm.

"Will you ask him, please?" Ahri asked. "Please?"

Will smiled. "Of course. By the way, please don't say to Ez that I mentioned that I heard Morgan tried to rape you. He went crazy at the thought of it. You mean a lot to him, I can see that."

"I always protected him…I think he wants to protect me back."

"I can understand that. He obviously would want that you have a good romance, not be taken by some guy who's just hungering for it." Will said.

Ahri smiled and thought for a while. Will brushed the rest of the tails. She was busy with the seventh, when Ahri looked at Will again.

"Will, have you ever had a romance?"

Will seemed kind of uneasy.

"Yes. I have had one, but I'm not with him anymore."

"How was your time together?" Ahri asked, with twinkling eyes.

Will smiled as she turned to Ahri.

"It was beautiful. I felt as if I had found the other half of my soul."

"Then why are you no longer together, if it was so beautiful?"

Will sighed.

"Sometimes, things don't go as you would want. Remember that, Ahri. I had spent my entire life trying to help others, but when I had to help myself, I couldn't. I needed the rest of the girls for that."

"But then, where is your boyfriend then? Why did he leave you?" Ahri asked, innocently.

"Don't _ever_ ask that again!" Will yelled. "No, don't _ever_ mention that word again!"

Will accidentally pushed the comb into Ahri's tail, hurting her.

"Aw! Stop it, Will, you're hurting me!"

Will noticed and took the comb away. The door opened and Irma and Taranee appeared, with scared faces.

"Please tell me you didn't say the b-word. Please, I beg you!" Irma pleaded.

"Girls," Will said grimly, while Irma's face contracted, "Fetch Corny and Hay-Hay. We're gonna have an extra training. Bring the bandages along."

She got up and walked past them.

"What have you done to us?" Irma said, with a mix of joking and seriousness, "I thought we were friends!"

Ahri looked confused.

"I'll explain later." Said Taranee, as she tried to take Irma with her.

They disappeared, but then Irma's head shot around the corner.

"We were friends!" This time it was obvious she was joking.

Ahri laughed.

When Ahri got back to the room, she saw Morgan entertaining Jack with a story, while Ez was looking at his computer. When he noticed Ahri had entered, he quickly went to another page.

"What were you doing?" Ahri asked.

"Nothing." Ez said, hastily.

Ahri rose an eyebrow.

"Then, I'm sure you won't mind if I go to that page, right?"

Ez swallowed. "Sure, go ahead."

Ahri opened the page, seeing an article about houses having caught fire in the town. She recognized a picture of the people who had died that night.

"Mom, dad…" Ahri said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"I didn't want you to look at it for this reason…" Ez said, apologizing.

Ahri left the room, Morgan looking as she left. He noticed the time, it was late in the evening.

"Jack, time to go to bed. You too, Ez. Tomorrow's another day."

Jack went to the bedroom, while Ez first copied the page and placed it in a separate folder. He then went to bed as well. Jack asked what Morgan and the girls had already experienced before they got here. So, Morgan started telling a story.

…

Ahri walked down the hallway, trying to get the picture out of her mind. She had tried to not think of her parents that much, it would just hold her back. She had to move on and be strong, for her brothers, and herself. She went to the girls' room, hoping to find some comfort. She knocked on the door, and Will opened.

"Oh, hello."

"Mind if I come in?" Ahri asked, a bit sad.

Will heard the tone.

"Not at all."

Ahri entered and noticed I.T.C.H. laying on two couches, bruises covering their arms, with Hay-Lin having an ice cold compressor on her forehead.

"What happened to you guys?" Ahri asked.

"You did this. You gave us an extra training. It's all your fault." Irma said, a laughing undertone, though the pain in her arm quickly brought an end to that.

Will went to sit behind her own table, which had a pack of cards on them.

"I had just finished a game of patience."

Will started to lay down the cards again and started a new game. Ahri went to sit next of Irma and Taranee. She sighed.

"Say, how come you are so beat up, while Will's perfectly fine?"

Irma rolled her eyes. "She's the best in dodging from the five of us. We didn't manage to hit her once. Oh no, wait, we did hit her. Once. But she fell into the water, so it softened her fall, which means she practically didn't get hurt."

Ahri laughed.

"But, Ahri," Taranee said, "I heard your sad undertone at the door and your sigh. What's the matter."

Ahri sighed again. "Ez found an article about my parents. And I don't really want to deal with the memories again. They just make me sad."

Taranee hugged Ahri. "Hey, I've lost my parents in a fire as well. But their memory gives me strength. Their memory gives us all strength. The dead aren't gone, until nobody remembers them anymore. They're still alive, Ahri. In your heart. Don't see their memory as a burden, see it as an aid. It'll help you survive, in those dark hours of life. And trust me, those dark hours will come, eventually."

Ahri smiled. "You might be right. But I guess I'll figure that out during my darkest hour. But until then, I don't think I want to be reminded of them all the time. At one time it had been so bad, they haunted my every dream."

"Your choice. I'm just saying you shouldn't forget about them." Taranee said, yawning.

Will got a text and she looked at it on her phone, not looking very interested. She put the phone away again.

"Gio wants to see us tomorrow morning." She said, as she finished her game of patience.

"Really, Will?" Hay-Lin said, sounding impressed, "That's the fourth time in a row you have managed to result the game in a win. How do you do that? It should be near impossible to do so."

Will shrugged. "Just my luck I think. You know, I like playing games, especially card games. I seem to have some sort of…feel for it, you know?"

Hay-Lin nodded as a response.

"We should go to bed, you too, Ahri. Tomorrow we have something nice to do. A murder." Will said with a small grin, apparently laughing about her own little joke.

Ahri left and walked back to her room. She opened the door, seeing Morgan sitting on the couch, reading a book. He looked up as she entered.

"Ah, you're back." He said, as he rose. "I have put Jack and Ez in bed already and told them a story. Apparently hearing how the girls kicked Phobos' ass wasn't exciting enough, as they fell asleep halfway through."

Ahri giggled, getting her a frown from Morgan. Morgan put away the book and walked back to her.

"It's not dull, a lot of stuff's actually happening during…"

Ahri placed a finger on his mouth.

"That wasn't what I was giggling about. I didn't know you were so good around children. How come?"

"I have an older brother, who is a father of two kids, a boy and a girl. I used to entertain them when they came over."

Ahri nodded.

"Thanks." She said, with a smile.

"No problem, I know how much they mean to you, and you to them. I'm glad to help out. Even though I can't actually do that much…" He said, with a sad smile.

"You can do enough, Morgan. You could potentially make us all invisible. That's good enough for me."

Morgan smiled and gave a small nod. "Then…I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Ahri shoveled with her feet. "I guess so."

Morgan walked to the door. He opened it and turned around.

"Sweet dreams."

"You too."

Morgan then left. She walked towards the chamber of Ez and Jack, seeing how they were sound asleep. Ahri walked to her own room and changed to her pyjamas. She tucked herself in.

"I hope I have sweet dreams too, Morgan."

Ahri didn't notice it, but she had been smiling since she had seen Morgan sitting on the couch.

…

The next morning, Ahri was sleeping when Will came in. When Will saw Ahri still asleep, she sighed.

"Doesn't she have any sense of self control? It's ten thirty in the morning and she is still asleep." She muttered, when Irma yelled.

"I would have been in bed as well, but you woke me up by throwing a pillow at my face."

Will sighed again. Will walked towards the bed, in which Ahri was peacefully sleeping, with a smile on her face. Will took the sheet and pulled it off, then opened a window, which was in the same direction as Ahri, allowing the cold wind to blow over Ahri's body. Slowly but surely, her smile started to fade away, her skin was showing signs of cold and eventually, her eyes shot open. She shot up and rubbed her arms, trying to warm up.

"Which idiot woke me up this early?" She said darkly, looking around until her eyes found Will. "YOU!"

"Ahri, it's ten thirty in the morning. Every regular person is awake at this moment." Will said.

"It was late yesterday…" Ahri said.

"I got out of bed as well and I went to bed just slightly earlier than you. So that's not really a valid argument." Will said, as she rose an eyebrow.

"…My bed is warm and comfortable." She countered.

Will facepalmed.

"Alright, I'll get dressed." Ahri said, while pouting.

"Excellent. Now, hurry up, because Gio is waiting for us." Will said, patting Ahri on the back.

Ahri got up and dressed herself, then walked into the living room. W.I.T.C.H., Morgan, Jack and Ez were eating pancakes, which had been made by Morgan, judging by some stains on his hands.

"Morning, sunshine." Taranee said, as Ahri drowsily took a pancake.

"What's the planning, anyway?" Ahri asked.

"Murder, of course." Will said, with a small grin. "By the way, this one's mine. I've been waiting to interrogate someone again."

I.T.C.H. and Morgan shivered, while Ahri looked in amazement.

"Excuse me?" Ahri asked.

"Well, when Will gets the chance to kill someone…she likes to ask the person a few questions before giving him mercy." Cornelia said, with an awkward smile.

"Give him mercy?" Ahri asked, confused.

"Well, we all have a different approach. Most of us like to kill the target quickly and get over with it, but Will likes to, well, 'play' with the prey like a cat plays with a mouse. She then kills him. In other words: after the torture, she gives him mercy in death." Hay-Lin explained.

"Ah." Ahri said, nodding. "I wonder what I'd do…"

"You'll find out when it's your time." Irma ensured her.

They all finished their breakfast and went to Giovanni's office.

Will knocked on the door and the familiar 'enter' was heard. They all entered the room. Giovanni was sitting in front of a television.

"Ah, you're right on time. Look at this news item."

They all looked at the television.

The headline was _Renowned Casino Owner does drugs?_

"I am here live in front of the Casino the Mirage, owned by renowned casino owner Michael Mirage." The reporter opened, "Michael Mirage has always supported orphanages with 25% of the profits, made by his casino. But now, it seems that not all of this money is legally earned. The recent capture of a drugs dealer revealed that said drugs dealer might have had connections with the renowned casino owner. Is the money that goes to orphanages Mirages drugs money?"

Giovanni turned off the television.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is our next target." Giovanni said.

"A renowned casino owner who _might_ have connections to drugs dealers? Why?" Hay-Lin asked. "If we don't know for sure, we might kill an innocent man!"

Giovanni smiled while he got up from his seat, walked to his desk and pressed a button. A hologram appeared.

"Innocent?" Giovanni asked. "Take a look at this."

The hologram showed a man, presumably Mirage, talk to a hooded figure, who didn't seem to feel comfortable. He constantly looked around.

"That's our captured drugs dealer. But watch closely."

The drugs dealer reached for Mirage's hand and Giovanni paused the recording.

"Look. In his hand." Giovanni said, enlarging the hand of the drug dealer. It consisted of a letter, with a stamp on it. Which said AUW.

"The AUW?" Will asked. "Wait, that's that organization Rockwell was involved with as well."

Giovanni nodded. "Indeed. I think the AUW is planning something. They're recruiting people or something. We don't know for sure. And that is the _true_ purpose of why this man is the next target. Will, I know that you, with your torture fetish…"

Will raised her eyebrows at this implication.

"…will surely like this. Torture him and get all the information you can out of him, especially on the AUW."

W.I.T.C.H., Morgan and Ahri nodded. Giovanni then turned to Ez and Jack.

"Don't think I'll forget you two. I have something special for you two. There's an old motorcycle in the garage. I thought that, the two of you being so good in repairing and upgrading…"

"On it!" Ez said, while Jack only smiled, while rushing to the garage.

"Now then. If you want to fully blend in in this casino, you have to be able to play the card games. Evade the slot machines, they're too much of a gamble." Giovanni said.

He then started training them in the card games, while everybody at least won a few times, Will didn't win. Not a single time.

Giovanni, I.T.C.H., Morgan and Ahri sighed.

"Will, how is it possible that you haven't won a _single_ time."

Will shrugged. "I don't know. Bad luck? But, guys, we are only practicing without money. In a casino it'll be with money. Speaking about which, where do you want to get that money from, Gio?"

"We have an account. Just try to play as neutral as possible."

"Ok." Will responded. "Shall we now practice with chips?"

Will got out a bag of chips and lay that on the table.

"These chips are the money. The one who has the most chips at the end wins and has the most chips to eat." Will said. "Agreed?"

Everybody nodded, while Will smiled.

As soon as they started to play with the chips, Will started dominating everybody. Bluffing seemed like a second nature to her and she won everything. In the end, Will was the only one with chips.

"Mmm. I like this kind of chips. Thanks, guys."

"I'm not sure." Ahri whispered to Morgan, "but I think Will has been playing us the whole time."

"You don't say?" Morgan asked, faking surprise.

Apparently Ahri couldn't take the hint. "Yeah, really."

Morgan shook his head and left the table.

"Sometimes I wonder why I like you." He whispered, and only Will caught it.

…

*That evening*

Everybody was dressed in formal clothing, Morgan wore a black suit, with a black tie, Ahri wore her usual outfit, since it was already formal enough, Will wore a pink dress, Irma a dark blue one, Taranee a red one, Cornelia a dark green one and Hay-Lin a light blue one.

"Does everybody have everything?" Will asked, receiving a nod from everyone.

"Where are Ez and Jack?" Morgan asked. "I thought they'd be working on that motorcycle?"

"Oh," Ahri replied, "they finished that in 3 hours and left again. They're at the room. Ez is working on his glove again, while Jack has went to the bedroom. I don't really know what he's doing. Perhaps some research of his own."

Morgan looked around. "Then where's the upgraded motorcycle?"

Ahri laughed and walked to a closed garage. "You had to ask."

She pressed a button and the garage opened. Morgan's mouth fell open. "That? They made…that?"

Ahri nodded.

In the garage, a motorcycle like any other stood.

"But that's just a _motorcycle_! I thought they'd so something awesome with it or something."

Ahri laughed again. "Perhaps they did."

Everybody gathered around the motorcycle.

"Motor, initiate drive-mode."

"_Voice scan complete. Initiating drive-mode. Have a good ride."_ The motor replied.

The motor immediately shed its skin and parts fell off the motor, revealing a titanium body, painted white. Two machine laser guns appeared and lay sideways of the vehicle. A hood covered the top, making it a wheel shape. Over the wheel-shaped hood, the rubber of the tire was placed, so that the entire vehicle made one big wheel. To the sides, it had armrests, with handles in them to steer. In the front, a big blue screen appeared with a map of the city, your current position and your destination. Out of the wheel-shaped hood, small flaps were visible, which could be opened to shoot rockets. The backlight was actually a laser that shot directly behind you and in the back two heat-seeking missiles were placed.

Morgan's mouth fell open. The rest smiled and nodded.

Ahri walked towards the motorcycle. "They don't know how to call it. Impressive huh?"

Ahri caressed the titanium body, almost with a hunger for it. She pressed a button on the left armrest and it folded up, allowing her an entrance. She took a seat and looked at Morgan.

"Care for a ride?"

Morgan looked at the her. "We're supposed to go with the rest, Ahri."

He pointed towards the others and George the helicopter.

"Oh no, if you wish to ride that wondrous motorcycle, go ahead." Hay-Lin said.

Will walked past Morgan towards George. "Take your chance, lover boy."

As she said it, it almost sounded menacing. Morgan actually looked over his shoulder to make sure Will was gone. He then walked to Ahri.

"You know we can't ride around with all those weapons visible, right?"

Ahri pressed a button and all the weapons disappeared.

"Yes, I do. Now get on."

Morgan sighed and W.I.T.C.H. just smiled at him as they entered George.

"See you there in 20 minutes." Irma said.

"15." Ahri said.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Perhaps." Ahri replied. "You can ponder over it while I ride off, or you can take off."

Morgan took a seat and both him and Ahri got a helmet. Ahri replaced the armrest and took the handle.

"Remember," Ahri said with a small grin, bearing her small fangs. "15 minutes. Ready? Go!"

The sound of burning rubber and a screech, and Ahri and Morgan took off. She rode straight to a wall.

"AHRI!" Morgan yelled, but Ahri didn't listen.

Instead, she kept accelerating. Suddenly, the wall split and revealed a tube. Morgan saw light at the end and when they rode out of the tunnel, they fell about a meter and right onto the highway. Ahri accelerated, the motorcycle swiftly maneuvered through the traffic and kept driving at a steady pace.

"Ahri, you're going way to fast!" Morgan yelled, his hands firmly around her out of sheer freight.

"Just try to relax! Let the wind, the freedom of movement, take control of you! I always feel like this when running over buildings or jumping over cars. To have the ability to do that makes me feel so alive. This is so great and I wanted to share it with you." Ahri replied.

"How do you even know how to drive this thing?" Morgan yelled as he slowly softened his grip.

"Through my mind." Ahri replied.

Morgan let go and dared to straighten up a bit. A bit of his hair was coming from under his helmet, going up and down due to the wind. Ahri's hair got in his face and he was blinded, grabbing Ahri again. Morgan lay his head on her right shoulder so that he could see what was happening. Ahri shortly took notice of him laying his head there and then focused on the road again.

It seemed the traffic was slowing down. Ahri touched the touch screen and it showed a traffic jam in front of them. A small smile crossed her lips. Morgan looked at the touch screen too.

"You should slow down."

"Oh, no," Ahri said, "this is where the fun begins!"

Instead of lowering her speed, she accelerated. The traffic around her kept slowing down and in the distance they had already come to a standstill.

"Ahri, please slow down!" Morgan yelled, obviously frightened.

"Not planning too. You should loosen up a bit, Morgan. It'll make your life more exciting!"

Morgan bit his lip.

Ahri thought of the motorcycle to jump and it did so. It then started driving over the hoods of the cars, leaving the owners of said cars watching in awe as an unknown vehicle easily rode over them without damaging the cars.

"Perhaps I should have more confidence in your brothers' creations. Because this thing is amazing." Morgan said, just as amazed as the car owners and getting a smirk of Ahri's face with it. "But I think you need to change course. We're heading for a cross-over."

"I thought you said you needed to have more confidence in my brothers creations?" Ahri said with a smile.

As the cross over appeared, she jumped over it with her mind.

"Then also have some more confidence in me."

Morgan smiled. They kept going over the traffic jam, which continued for a while. When the cars started rolling again, they left the car hoods and rode over the road again. They drove past the harbour, which was situated at the lowest end of a small hill, which indicated the rich neighbourhood of the city. They saw George the helicopter in the distance. Ahri pouted as she realized they were going to be there first.

"Ahri, stop!" Morgan suddenly said.

"Why?" Ahri asked.

"There's something moving down at the harbour." Morgan responded. "It seems like a black truck. It looks a little fishy to me."

Ahri thought for a few seconds. She then turned the motorcycle towards the harbour.

"You do realize we're probably going to miss one hell of a party due to this, right?"

"You're not much of a party girl anyway." Morgan replied, getting a smile. "And we can always make our own party."

…

George the helicopter landed on a docking bay on top of the Mirage Casino. The girls got out and entered the Casino from the top main entrance.

"Good evening, ladies." The guard at the door said, "On behalf of mister Mirage, I welcome you to Mirage Casino. I wish you a very profitable and nice evening."

"Thank you, kind sir." Hay-Lin thanked the guard, as she paid the entrance price for the four of them.

"Where are Ahri and Morgan?" Irma asked Cornelia, "I haven't seen them coming towards the Casino from the roof."

"Neither did I. Do you think something's wrong?"

Irma thought for a while. "Those two will be fine. If they're not here at the end of the 'party', we'll search for them. Perhaps the motorcycle has a tracker and we can track it down at the HQ."

Cornelia nodded.

The girls walked towards the bar. Cornelia and Will ordered a prosecco, while Hay-Lin, Irma and Taranee decided to start with some Coke.

"I think it's ironic we're drinking Coke while this guy may be dealing coke." Irma remarked.

A man in his late-thirties noticed this and walked up to them. He was wearing a suit and had a black briefcase in his left hand. He had black hair and a gold ring with an M engraved in it on his right hand.

"Ladies," he said, as he made a small bow. "Michael Mirage."

He extended his hand, which W.I.T.C.H. shook one by one while they introduced themselves with fake names, of course.

"I'm Melissa." Will said.

"Melisande." Cornelia said.

"Xiaoxue." Hay-Lin said.

"Roxanne." Irma said.

"Emilia." Taranee said.

"I couldn't help but overhear your remark, miss Roxanne." Mirage said to Irma. "I hope you do not blame me for that."

Will looked at Irma, with a small smile, indicating to her that she had easily helped them find the man they needed to torture and, if guilty of drugs dealing, kill.

"No, not at all. It was about you after all, it's only natural that you would respond if something bad is said about you. It's awful isn't it? That they try to accuse you of drugs dealing. I mean, you've always donated to the orphanage. They probably just want your money. That's what the world's about nowadays, isn't it?" Irma said.

"It is true that I have always donated to the orphanage, but that may not be used as an argument. This is a completely different matter. Some wicked people are trying to discredit my name and bring me down. I don't know their reasons or why they thought of this story, but it is truly awful that people do this, probably because of money, as you have said." Mirage said.

"Apparently everybody values money the most." Cornelia responded. "If they can get more money, they'll be happy."

Mirage shook his head. "It's actually pretty sad that it has come to that."

The girls nodded. The bar lady came to them.

"Mister Mirage, there's a call for you. Reception has put it on hold. If you'd please pick it up in your room?"

"Yes, of course. I'll be right there." He responded.

He then turned to the girls.

"Please, forgive me that I have to end the conversation now."

"It is alright, dear Sir." Will said. "I'm sure this conversation will continue some other time."

Mirage then walked away while the girls kept looking at him. Will had a small smile on her face.

They walked to a poker table and started to play. Will soon started winning.

…

Ahri and Morgan arrived at the harbour and Ahri parked the 'motorcycle' behind a shed. They got of the motorcycle and placed the helmets back. Ahri pressed a button and opened a small hatchet, taking out a gun and giving it to Morgan.

"To help defend you."

Morgan accepted the gun and loaded it. Together, they headed towards the place where Morgan had last seen the truck. Morgan took the lead and saw the truck. He raised his hand, indicating to Ahri that she had to stop. Morgan saw two men unloading boxes and placing them inside a shed next to the truck. A third man came from the shed and talked with the first two. He gave them a letter, then walked towards the front of the truck and entered it. The two men then went into the shed and locked it. The truck started and drove away. Morgan and Ahri waited until the truck had left and then advanced towards the shed. Morgan looked around and noticed that from here, nobody from the highway could see them. Morgan had only seen the front of the truck.

"Ahri, can you blast open the door?"

Ahri smiled at him as she summoned three little blue flames. She then summoned a bluish ball of energy, which she called 'the orb'. She shot the orb at the door of the shed, blasting it open. She burst her nine tails through her suit and immediately used them to launch herself into the shed. Morgan held his gun in shooting position and went in as well. What he encountered was a man engulfed in blue fire, burning him alive while he tried to crawl towards Ahri, screaming his lungs off. The second man was under her heels and blue flames were circling around his head.

Morgan smiled at the sight of Ahri being in character again and then shot the man engulfed in flames, putting him out of his misery.

Morgan walked up to the second man and pointed his gun at him. Ahri left them to see what was in the boxes stashed in the shed.

"So, tell me, what are you doing here?" Morgan asked.

The man looked at the bluish flames encircling his head. He had seen what those flames had done with his companion and did not want to die just yet.

"We're just stashing these boxes here. I don't know what's inside them, man, I don't know nothin'. We're just hired by some casino owner to bring boxes with goods from this shed some addresses and stuff from those addresses back to this shed. Please don't set me on fire, man, I didn't do nothin', I swear."

Ahri tried opening one of the boxes but she couldn't manage to open it.

"I can't open these boxes." Ahri said to Morgan, "do you know a…"

A shot was heard and a bullet flew through the lock, shooting it to bits. Ahri opened the box and saw a bunch of drugs.

"I guess this Casino owner you're working for isn't telling you the truth about what you're doing. You're smuggling drugs."

"Any hints to if it really is Mirage?" Morgan asked.

"No," Ahri said as she shook her head. "There are no traces to him, as far as I can see."

Morgan then remembered something he had seen.

"You got a letter from that third man in the truck. Hand it over."

The man's hand went to his pocket, but he then shot up and tried grabbing Morgan's gun. Morgan pulled back on time for the man to miss and roll over, but with that roll, his head touched one of the blue flames. Immediately, the remaining two flames placed the rest of him on fire. He started screaming, trying to douse the fire. Morgan shot him through the head and Ahri recalled the blue flames, dousing the fire. The man had only been on fire for a short time, so he had only suffered minor burns. Morgan quickly searched the man for the letter and found it. Though it was burned slightly. He removed the envelope and read the letter. Ahri came closer. Together they looked at the signature: AUW. They exchanged grim looks and Morgan put the letter away.

Footsteps were heard on the outside of the shed. Morgan quickly pulled Ahri towards him and snapped his finger, making them invisible. 2 men with machine guns appeared in front of the door of the shed. They seemed to be the security guards of the harbour. They examined the blast and nodded at each other. Both of them aimed their machine guns to the door and entered. They saw the two burned men and one of them made a face when he noticed how badly burned the first one was.

"Pull yourself together, Bale." The other one said.

Morgan and Ahri slowly crept to the blasted door, trying to go by unnoticed. Both of them breathed quickly, but silent. They didn't want to kill these two guards, they had nothing to do with Mirage or the AUW. However, one misstep and they could be discovered. If they were discovered, it was a matter of who could react first. Morgan didn't want to shoot them, not that he thought he would be faster with his gun than they would be with their machine guns anyway. They got closer and closer to the door and the men walked away from them, systematically searching through the shed.

"Hey, take a look at this." Bale said, pointing inside the opened box.

His companion came to his location, still looking if there is anybody in the shed. He then looked at what Bale had found.

"What does this seem like to you?" Bale asked him.

"That's definitely a drug." His companion said.

He took out a pocket knife and cut open one of the packages of drugs. He then took a small piece and examined it.

"Seems like cocaine to me."

Bale nodded. "I think these drugs might be involved in the murder of these guys. They then burned them to make sure we wouldn't figure out who they were and to cover up the evidence."

"Then why would they forget the other one?" His companion asked.

"I don't know," Bale responded. "They must've heard us coming."

Ahri and Morgan quickly dashed through the opening, blocking the faint moonlight that was entering the shed. The two guards quickly looked at the opening and saw them, as they were blocking the light, uncovering their forms.

"You there! Stop!" Bale said, as he and his companion ran towards the door, both having aimed their machine guns.

Morgan lifted the invisibility and he and Ahri ran towards the 'motorcycle' to escape. However, they heard more guards coming and were forced to make another turn. With this, they ran into a dead alley. Ahri was about to pick up Morgan and jump over the wall, when Bale and his companion appeared.

"You two! Stop!" Bale yelled.

Ahri picked up Morgan and jumped over the wall, leaving Bale and his companion looking in awe.

Bale threw a stun grenade after them.

Ahri landed behind the wall and placed Morgan at the ground. She then retracted her tails. Morgan looked up, seeing if somebody was attempting to climb over the wall, when he saw the stun grenade. He quickly took Ahri's hand and made a run for it, when the stun grenade went off. Due to the force of the stun grenade, Morgan and Ahri fell to the ground and Morgan let go of Ahri's hand. Morgan got up and, numb, heard footsteps getting closer. He managed to get on his hands and knees and crept into a dark place in a corner of where they came from.

Not even a second after he had crept into the corner, 4 security guards arrived. Ahri was still laying there, Morgan not being capable of pulling her there too. She had been closer to the stun grenade and had actually been stunned instead of numbed. Morgan noticed how the effects of the stun grenade were quickly deteriorating, though he had only been numbed and would therefore be fully functional at an earlier time than Ahri.

Bale and his companion arrived at the scène and noticed the unconscious Ahri on the ground. He looked around.

"There was a second person. He or she must have ran away and left her behind. You 3, go search him or her."

Three guards nodded and left. Bale's companion and the other guard picked up Ahri.

"Bring her to the office. I want to know how she's involved in this murder and if she works for someone."

The guard and Bale's companion left the scène and Bale and Morgan were left alone. Morgan was no longer numb. He had heard the last sentence Bale had said and he needed to follow Ahri. Bale looked around the alley, searching for more clues. Morgan quickly made himself invisible. Bale came closer to him and Morgan held his breath, as to not be discovered. Bale went to one knee and took a closer look at the ground, trying to see where the footsteps went. Morgan hadn't thought of the fact he didn't erase his track to where he was now. He quickly got up and his upper half was visible through the shadow against the wall, though Bale didn't see it as he was looking towards the ground. Morgan hit Bale in the neck and then against the back of his head with the back of his gun and Bale fell to the ground. Morgan quickly ran out of the alley and saw Bale's companion having placed Ahri over his shoulder. The other one was looking around, his machine gun in hand. Morgan was sure the guard wouldn't try to kill him, but to wound him as to capture him. Morgan trailed them past the different sheds and containers in the harbour, constantly hiding himself behind them and making sure the other guards, who were actively searching for him, didn't find him.

He trailed them this way to the office, which was located right next to the exit of the harbour. Morgan then hid himself in a dark place and made himself invisible, thinking of how he could save Ahri. He thought his best bet was to go back to the motorcycle and use that…but then he remembered it had a mental driving mechanism and he didn't have access. He would need to get Ahri out of there by himself. But first, he had an idea for their escape, and he hoped it would work, for otherwise it would be a lot harder.

…

At the Mirage Casino, Will had been winning a lot, as usual. Each of them had started with 500.000 dollars. Will now had 2 million, Hay-Lin 1 million, Irma 450.000, Cornelia 505.000 and Taranee 200.000. Will had been under surveillance for a short while now, as she seemed to know when to quit and when to go for it, earning her a lot of money, while losing little. At the moment, everybody had dropped out, except for Will and some random person they were playing black jack with, called John Johnsson, who also had 2 million in earnings. Yeah, he doesn't like his name either.

Mister Johnsson then went all-in. Will rose an eyebrow at the offer and looked at mister Johnsson, who was keeping up his poker face.

Will decided to go along and went all-in too. Both lay down their cards and it seemed the both of them had a 20.

"You will each draw cards. The one with the highest card will win." The dealer said.

"Objection," Will replied calmly, "with this method, it is possible for either of us too cheat. We might've bribed you to place the cards in a pre-determined, for one of us beneficial manner to cheat our way to victory. I suggest a fail safe method of winning: we will toss a chip from the table, which will indicate the winner when it falls on the table."

Everybody agreed on this. The dealer and mister Johnsson briefly exchanged looks, and the dealer took a chip from underneath the table. On the chip, there was an M on one side and the front of the casino on the other. Will didn't trust it.

"Choose your sides please."

"I will take the front of the casino." Mister Johnsson said.

Will thought the side with the M would be slightly heavier than the other side, thus resulting in a win for mister Johnsson a majority of the time, as it would more often fall on that side. However, Will was not going to let that happen, even if she had to cheat a little bit herself.

"Then I will take the side with the M."

The dealer threw the chip and everybody looked at it. Under the table, Will used her power of Quintessence to magnetize the side with the front of the casino and her hand. When the chip had landed, Will had won the coin toss, as the M side was facing them. Will smiled and faked excitement about her win. Everybody started congratulating her, though mister Johnsson and the dealer looked at each other. The dealer then picked up the phone and dialed a number to the office of mister Mirage.

"Mister Mirage? Yes, I think we might have a cheater here. Her name is Melissa."

About half a minute later, two security guards came towards their table.

"Melissa?"

Nobody responded for a little while, but then Will remembered she had given that as her fake name.

"Yes?"

"Could you come with us, please? Mister Mirage wants to have a word with you."

I.T.C.H. faked concern for Will, who waved the concern away with a sign of her hand.

"It'll be fine. I'm sure he just wants to congratulate me with my winnings." She added.

She had a small smile on her face when she was brought to Mirage's office.

At that time, Taranee's smile disappeared, as she seemed to be concentrating.

Will walked after the guards to Mirage's office, and when the door opened she noticed him sitting behind a desk on the phone.

"What do you mean? Nothing? Impossible, there should be more shipments. Look, I've got to go right now. I'll call you later."

Mirage hung up and looked at Will.

"Ah, Melissa. Take a seat."

Will, however, kept standing. Mirage looked at her for a second but then decided it didn't matter.

"Anyways, I have had a call from one of my employers. This employer said you were cheating."

Will rose an eyebrow and walked through the chamber, slowly towards Mirage, viewing his stuff.

"Does he or she have any proof?"

"We have security cameras everywhere, also under the tables. I looked at the recordings of you and you waved your hand under the table and then the coin landed on your side. This can indicate cheating." Mirage said.

"I see. And, do you have any proof that the hand wave actually affected the coin?" Will said, as she kept coming closer.

"No, but why would you randomly wave your hand?" Mirage asked.

"To influence my surroundings…like this." Will replied, with a small satanic grin, and a sparkle in her eye.

Will waved her hand. Mirage was thrown out of his chair by the chair _itself_ and the door locked. Will started laughing.

Mirage got up and looked from Will to the moving chair.

"What is this?"

"Your _worst_ nightmare." Will replied with a devilish grin, her hand crackling with lightning.

The small television in Mirage's room came to life and shot its cables to him, holding him in place. Will then electrocuted him with a small electric current. Mirage started screaming due to the pain the electricity caused. Will came closer and held her face in front of him.

"So, you're going to answer some questions I have. And if you comply, I _might_ just _barely_ leave you alive. If not..."

Will's voice dropped to a silent, seductive, but cold whisper. "_Eternal Paralyzation._ You'll be trapped within your body, aware of what's happening, but unable to do anything. Oh, the _horror_!"

Will's eyes sparkled and it was obvious that she was enjoying the prospect of paralyzing Mirage.

"So, let's get started, shall we?" She said with a small and lovely giggle, which, not surprisingly, scared Mirage the most.

"Do you deal in drugs?" Will asked, softly.

"No." Mirage answered.

Will let the chair punch him into his stomach and in the back, causing Mirage to pant heavily.

"Do you deal in drugs?"

"No." Again, Will let the chair punch him.

"Do you deal drugs?"

"How long are you going to keep asking the same question?" Mirage asked, panting heavily.

Will electrocuted him and tightened the cables that held him in place, causing Mirage to shout in pain.

"Until you answer truthfully…" Will whispered.

Mirage had a small spark of challenge in his eyes. Will smiled. "Then we'll continue."

Again, Will electrocuted Mirage, while this time letting the chair punch him simultaneously.

"As you might have guessed, every time you don't answer truthfully, you will be punished harder. Now, do you…deal…in drugs?"

Mirage looked up and proclaimed a weak: 'no…'.

Will electrocuted him again and let the chair punch him. Will walked towards a drawer and got out a scissor. "This'll do.

"Now, do you deal in drugs?"

"NO!" Mirage bursted out.

Will stabbed him in the stomach with the scissor and then cut him a few times. Blood dripped from the wounds and Mirage winced in pain. Will electrocuted him again.

"Wrong answer." She whispered.

Mirage started panting and screaming, trying to break free. The door was being shaken: the guards wanted to come in. Will loosened the cables to let him feel the hope of escaping, but then tightened them even harder than before.

"Alright, YES! YES I DEAL IN DRUGS! Please, STOP!"

Will stopped the electrocution.

"Where do you hide them…?"

Mirage looked up at Will's face. Will took the scissor and made a cut in Mirage's forehead, above the right eyebrow, causing blood to run over his right eye.

Mirage's voice shook when he answered. "At the harbour…in a shed…guarded by some people that don't know they're protecting drugs…"

"Who are you dealing the drugs with?"

Mirage looked to the ground. "Some…guy just came to me one day and before I knew it, I was involved in a circuit I couldn't get out of. I dealt drugs with every dealer in town… It was so much money…I felt I had to do something with it. So, I give it to charity, to make myself feel better…But I should've spend it on better guards instead, so that some lunatic like _YOU_ can't enter my…!?"

Mirage felt the open scissor against his throat and felt a small push. Will's face was full of determination.

"_Please…_make me."

Mirage stopped his rant, looking afraid, but then decided to continue, though on a different path. "I should've never given that money to charity anyways! Those children don't deserve it! If they _really_ wanted a job, they would've gotten one! Anybody can work at a supermarket! I should've followed that guy's advise…"

"What advice?" Will asked, while making another cut in Mirage's face, this time over his left eyebrow.

"The same guy that came to me that fatal day…he told me I should use the money for some organization. I followed his advice, but I only used part of the money for it. He advised me to use all of it to that organization. I didn't."

"What's the name of this organization." Will asked, urgently, "TELL ME!"

Mirage came closer to Will's face and it seemed he was about to slit his own throat, though Will was sure that Mirage couldn't kill himself.

"_Job secret._"

Will smiled. "Have it your way. Even with your death I will figure it out. Now, I have a final question…"

Will's cold and pleased manner disappeared completely and made way for an even bigger threat, anger. Her voice shook in anger when she asked Mirage the question she had branding on her lips for the entire time since she had first seen him, as she had with every other criminal, as it might help her uncover a truth she so desperately needed and, thus, tried to find.

"Did you or did you not burn down the houses of 6 children a couple of years ago?"

Mirage, who was beaten, lifeless and electrocuted, with blood all over him and he was still bleeding, looked at her with a look that angered her more than anything ever could. Even the b-word was a dwarf in anger compared to this giant: the look not knowing what you mean.

She tossed him through the room and started punching him in all places, her hands crackling with lightning and with every punch she made, an electric current went through Mirage's body and the lightning jumped from him to any electric appliance, destroying them. Will could hear the appliances screaming in terror, begging her to stop, but she didn't. She picked up Mirage and threw him against the wall, then let the scissors float and she shot it right through his right eye and pulled it out, then letting the scissors cut him more. She then threw Mirage against the wall several times. Her rage diminishing under the intense power she was unleashing, plus the fact she saw what she was doing.

Mirage was bleeding all over, his right eye had been pulled out and was now a gaping hole, he was cut everywhere and bruised everywhere and he was panting heavily.

"_What have I done…?_" Will whispered, as she had seen the damage she had caused. "_I let myself be driven by my anger…again…_"

Mirage spit some blood. "Please…" he asked softly.

She knew what he meant. He couldn't be saved with these wounds, and even if he could be saved, his body would be totally ruined. But Will would not let him survive. She didn't want to. She shoved a table under him. Will blasted the wall out and threw him out of the wall, letting him fall down the cliff into the river, and most likely to his death as well. The guards managed to burst through the door and saw Will standing there, looking out of the now-gone wall. The immediately drew their weapons and aimed at Will.

"Alright, girl. What happened here?"

Will waved her hand and the weapons came to life, turning on their guards and shooting them. The guards fell to the ground and the people in the casino downstairs, who hadn't heard the screams and electricity through their chatter and laughter, _did_ hear the gunshots coming from Mirage's chamber. When they noticed Will coming out of the room after she was accused a cheater, they put 2 and 2 together. They started screaming and tried to run out of the casino. Will walked down the stairs and guards rushed towards her. Cornelia and Hay-Lin tackled the guards to the ground and kicked the guns away. Taranee then rushed to Will.

"George is going to land in front of the casino."

"Are you crazy?" Will shouted. "They can easily hold him there! Who knows what weapons they have here!"

"We have a plan. Trust me." Taranee said, reassuringly and calm amidst the chaos.

"Always the eye of the storm, Taranee." Will said, while quickly walking to the other girls and ripping the underside of her dress apart, making sure she had more maneuverability. The other girls did the same and rushed to the exit.

Guards tried to stop them, but they didn't want to hit innocents and had to close the gap and engage with hand-to-hand combat. Cornelia and Hay-Lin easily disarmed the guards and threw them out of the way, clearing the way to the exit.

…

Morgan had contacted Taranee and had told her about his plan, to which she, after careful consideration, said it was 'an ok plan, but I could devise a better one in a few minutes'. However, their contact was cut off, but not before a key-part of Morgan's plan was done, so Morgan decided to go with his own plan anyway. He crept to the place where the motorcycle was and tried to connect with it through his mind. At first access was denied, but then, it granted access.

"Excellent. It worked!" Morgan whispered in excitement.

Since it hadn't been detransformed, the voice check wasn't needed. Only the mental connection was required. Morgan took seat and used his mind to drive around a little bit. He just had to think of where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do, and the 'motorcycle' did it. He quickly got the hang of it and decided it was now or never. He pressed the button Ahri had pressed to make the weapons disappear and the weapons reappeared. He then drove towards the security post next of the exit with a loud roar.

This, of course, immediately drew the attention of the security guards and they rushed to where they had heard the roar. As soon as they saw Morgan, he had gone by again.

"We've found the accomplice, but he has a motorcycle and we can't catch him. He's heading towards the security post near the exit."

Morgan drove towards the security exit and when he saw it he diminished his speed. He jumped off and the guard that was rushing out of the security post and shot him in the side and his gun, demolishing the gun while causing the guard to collapse on the ground. He rushed inside and only saw Ahri. But he was sure there were 2 guards.

At that moment he got punched in his face from underneath a table. Another punch came in his direction, but Morgan blocked it, took his hand and twisted it, causing the guard to scream in pain and then get kicked in the stomach and hit in the neck, knocking him out. He then touched Ahri's face, who immediately opened her eyes.

"Nice plan letting me activate the motorcycle through our telepathic connection, Morgan." Ahri said while Morgan helped her up.

"Thanks." Morgan replied, "but please give command to me. You're in no shape after that stun grenade."

"I'm still feeling a bit numb, so that might be a good idea." Ahri mumbled.

Morgan, with Ahri close to him, got outside of the security post and saw three security guards running towards him. He quickly looked around and saw the pile of boxes stacked in front of a shed. He quickly shot in the left side of the lowest box, destroying it and letting the box crumble with a to-the-left motion, causing the entire pile of boxes to collapse on the three men and block the path for any other guards that would try taking that route. It certainly wouldn't kill, but it would delay them.

Morgan picked up Ahri and ran towards the 'motorcycle', placed Ahri on it and took the drivers' seat. Ahri gave him permission to drive the 'motorcycle' and Morgan drove of. The security guards got out of the pile of boxes and only saw him driving away through the gate.

Morgan quickly drove towards the highway and hid the weapons, which he managed to not need.

"Wow, Morgan. Nice going there. I didn't think you'd have it in you." Ahri said playfully.

"Perhaps you should have some more trust in me." Morgan calmly replied, although he had a big smile on his face.

They then entered the highway and quickly drove towards the Mirage Casino.

…

W.I.T.C.H. could hear the police sirens and when they came outside, the police had already arrived. They kept the people in front of the Casino, allowing nobody to leave. They had received message that something was going on in Mirage Casino and had come immediately. Now, nobody was allowed to leave until they found out what had happened and who had caused it.

When Will came forward through the crowd to try and escape, people immediately started screaming that she had shot Mirage. Or at least that she had fired a gun.

The police immediately drew its weapon and aimed it at Will. Will narrowed her eyes and saw Taranee looking at her.

"Patience."

They heard the roar of a motorcycle and the chopping of helicopter blades. George appeared and the cops looked up, seeing George.

"Take it down!"

At that time, the motorcycle roared again, on a short distance behind the cops. They looked to behind them and saw two rockets being fired at them. The cops quickly duck away and the police cars exploded. Morgan drove by as George landed, allowing the girls to escape. George quickly flew away.

"Hello ladies. I assume the mission was a success?"

"Yes, George," Will replied, "now get us out of here."

"Of course, Will."

George flew away, back to the HQ, while Morgan and Ahri drove away into the night, leaving the ruined Mirage Casino, burning cars and stupefied cops and people to watch as they left.

…

When Ahri and Morgan arrived at the HQ, they found the girls waiting for them.

"So, who was driving?" Taranee asked.

"Morgan." Ahri said.

Irma faked shock and her mouth fell open. "You did something useful!"

"Very funny, Irma." Morgan said.

"Now, to be serious," Cornelia said. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, you won't believe this."

They then told the entire story of what had happened at the harbour. At the end, Morgan got out the letter. And showed it to the girls.

"This AUW is appearing everywhere…" Cornelia said.

"I'll discuss this with Giovanni. I'm thinking of investigating this AUW stuff." Will said, immediately walking away and going to Giovanni.

The girls and Morgan then went to their rooms. Morgan took a shower and when he got out of it, he dressed in his pajamas. He then heard a knock on the door. He opened it and Ahri was standing in front of the door. She, too, was dressed in her pajamas.

"Hey, uhm, I want to thank you for saving me. You really were great today."

"It wass nothing. I'm sure you would've done the same." Morgan replied.

"Yeah," Ahri replied, looking at the ground, moving her feet. "I guess I would've."

They stayed in that same position for a little while, but then Ahri looked at Morgan with a sparkle in her eyes. Morgan noticed it and kept looking at her eyes. Ahri leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She then looked at him again. He gave her a little smile and she gave him one too. She then walked away and he sighed as he closed the door.

"I see you're coming along well."

Morgan gasped for air and saw the cloaked figure, comfortably sitting on the couch.

"You scared me there. Never do that again."

"I make no promises. Anyways, it seems you're getting close with each other." The figure said.

"I saved her today, and I was pretty badass, so…" Morgan said, reddening.

"Oh," The figure said, "I see."

Then there was a silence.

"The AUW." The figure broke the silence. "It needs to be investigated. If all of you and I investigate them, we can find out who they are. They have been involved in drugsdealing and weapon dealing, that's enough to take them down."

Morgan nodded. "I agree, and I'm sure I won't need to convince the girls. We're all curious to what this AUW is and who's leading it."

The hooded figure nodded and rose. The figure then walked to the door, opened it and left.

"I believe that's the easiest way he or she has ever left." Morgan replied.

He went to bed and to sleep, it had been a long day after all. But it had been a good day. He didn't notice he reddened and touched the place where he had been kissed by Ahri. He wouldn't take his hand of his cheek the entire night.

End of Part 1

**[A/N]: Seems like Morgan finally did something. After having him be a sidekick for a time, I wanted him to do something special, which would also furthen the relationship (if you can call it that) between him and Ahri. Also, it seems like Will has a hidden talent for card games. So I hope you liked this chapter (especially Will's murder. I thought it was quite good, but I had some creepy music on and was visualizing it in my head). This chapter marks the end of Part 1: Dawn. So review :D and until next time.**


	5. Part 2: Darkness Rises

Part 2: The Darkness Rises

"So then I said: 'No mister Bond, I expect you to die!' Of course, he did not die afterwards and thwarted my plan. I only escaped by faking my death, and now I am plotting another way to get my revenge."

"Well then, you shouldn't talk about it in public, where your plans are easily overheard. Some useful advice for next time, Goldfinger."

The three men looked up from their table and turned to the man who had spoken last. He truly seemed like James Bond, although his hair was not quite right. He walked up to their table.

"And who might you be?" one of the men asked, hoping he would go out of character and say his real name.

"Bond. James Bond." Bond responded.

He looked at the bartender and rose his hand. The bartender noticed him.

"Vodka Martini, shaken, not stirred. Do any of you want anything?"

"Give me a pure Vodka please." Goldfinger responded, while the other two remained silent.

"Bartender, please add a pure Vodka to that as well!" Bond yelled at the bartender.

The bartender nodded, and started making the mix.

"So, mister Bond, where have you been for the past years?" Goldfinger asked.

"Ah, travelling the world, seeing beautiful places and occasionally stopping a super criminal here or there. You know, the usual."

Goldfinger smiled and the bartender came to them, the two drinks on a plate. Bond took the both of them and gave the pure Vodka to Goldfinger. Nobody noticed the small gesture Bond did before truly giving the drink: he placed the tip of his finger in the Vodka for just a splitsecond.

"Thank you, mister Bond. It is good to know that, even though we are enemies, you will still be a gentleman in my proximity."

Bond smiled. "No problem. I'm the gentleman spy for a reason, after all."

"Tell that to all the women you shagged." One of the others suddenly mentioned, resulting in a large laughter emerging from the table.

"Yes, quite indeed. They might not think me a gentleman." Bond said, as he took a sip from his drink.

He immediately spat it out again. "How can the real Bond drink this?"

Again, laughter emerged from the table. Goldfinger took a sip of his drink and then patted Bond on the back.

"Just his liking. Or maybe you are not quite gentleman enough."

Bond smiled. "Yes, that first ought to be it."

"Ah, too proud to admit you may not be a gentleman after all." Goldfinger said with a wink.

"Now please excuse me, I have villains to stop and a bad taste in my mouth to wash out." Bond said. He rose his wrist to his mouth, revealing some sort of device. "You can pick me up now."

"Is that Q's newest technology, mister Bond?" Goldfinger asked.

"Oh, I wish it was real and not just a fake." Bond responded.

Bond left to the exit, but sneezed halfway. Nobody noticed, but a small device was shot from his sleeve to the security camera. The device hit the wall, right under the security camera and was stuck there. A small arm with a cable came out and plugged itself in the camera.

"God bless you." A woman said.

Bond thanked her and then walked out of the bar. A car drove up. A girl with long dark hair drove it and she looked at him with green eyes. Bond stepped in the car and they switched places. Bond drove away.

"So, how did it go, 'mister Bond'?" the girl asked.

"Oh, Ahri, I amused myself an entire evening without having to hear somebody whining about how stupid it is to dress up like your favourite Bond movie character. So please, don't ruin it for me now. And it went perfectly, miss Moneypenny."

"Morgan, I'm _not_ miss Moneypenny. I didn't even dress up like here. So please, shut the hell up."

Morgan knew that attitude all too well and laughed. "Fine. Let's see how things are going at the bar."

Ahri tapped the dashboard and a videoscreen in the middle of the car went on, showing the view the security camera could see. They looked at it and saw that nothing had happened yet. They did notice that 'Goldfinger's' glass was half full.

"Any second now."

Goldfinger scratched his nose and then his shirt, right over his heart. Suddenly he started spasming and gurgling. He broke the glass, leaving glass splinters in his hand, which started to bleed. He fell on the ground and onlookers rushed to help him, rubbing over his heart, trying to give him mouth-to-mouth or any other manner they thought they could help. The bartender was on the phone, probably calling an ambulance.

"Mission successful, I would say. The stuff they're doing won't really work against a subtle poison, and the poison itself will dissolve after five minutes, not leaving any traces." Ahri said.

Morgan nodded. The view on the screen switched to Ez. "Mission accomplished?"

"Mission accomplished, '_Q_'." Morgan said. "Thanks for the awesome wrist communicator, by the way."

"No problem, mister Bond." Ez said with a wink. "I'll hack the security system of that bar to make sure the police can't find any traces of you. And if anything does go through, Tom will take it out for us and help us keep our cover."

Morgan nodded. "And how did the search of mister Goldfinger's room go?"

"Will reported that they did find an invitation of the AUW there. He did not yet destroy it, as it was an invitation for a meeting this evening. The specifics would be sent to him if he accepted the offer, but he declined. After all, he was at the party. You did a good job of tracking him, Morgan." Ez reported.

"I hoped he would meet up with some of those people at this party, however. I listened in on all his conversations, before murdering him, of course, but he did not give any useful information." Morgan said.

"Well, at least we have confirmation that he was indeed affiliated with the AUW in some way. I'll see you when you come back here." Ez said, before the video chat was disabled.

Ahri tapped the dashboard again and the video screen retreated back into the dashboard.

"Well, it seems we didn't really get much information out of this." Ahri said.

"Well, then that's the way it is. But it all went pretty well, and I got to do something fun." Morgan responded.

Ahri looked at him. "That's true."

They drove in silence for a while. The houses passed by, the people walking down the bustling streets of the city did too. Morgan noticed that Ahri had fallen a little deeper in her seat, so as to hide her from sight as much as possible, so she would not be recognized.

"Ahri, with what you're doing, you're only making yourself stand out more. Act natural, do as if we're just casually chatting." Morgan said.

Ahri looked at him and stubbornly kept still. "I've been hiding from people for almost my entire life, so don't start telling me now how to hide my presence from people, thank you."

Morgan shook his head and sighed. "Why must you be so stubborn? Can't you just listen to my advice for once?"

"I could do that, but after careful consideration for about a millisecond I thought your idea to be stupid, so I'll keep doing what I think is best." Ahri responded.

Morgan rolled his eyes and sighed. "Whatever."

'Why must you be so stubborn and unwilling to listen at times? And an even better question: why am I attracted to that behaviour?' Morgan thought to himself.

…

"Gentlemen," the blackened figure on the television said, "I am glad you all could make it."

There were six people sitting around a round table, with the television in plain view.

"Just hurry up already and tell us what the deal is. If my colleagues find out I'm here, it'll cost me." The man on the far right said.

"Patience, White. Before coming down to business, you should introduce yourself. At least, the first time you meet. Then you start talking business, which I already could be doing, had you not so blatantly interrupted me."

"My name isn't even..."

"Shut up, White. Don't you think we should use other names than our real names? Or do you wish to be easily caught? I don't think so, since 'being found out will cost you. So shut up and listen. I am the leader of the AUW, the Association for Underground Warfare. You may call me Elise. No, that is not my real name either, just to be clear, White."

White grumbled, knowing he was now going to forever be seen as the idiot of the group.

"We have a small number of groups under us that try to thwart the government wherever they can. However, this is a fake. A distraction. If I wanted, I could do something about the government right now. There is, although, a more elusive force at work. One which has to be eliminated. I think you all know of whom I talk."

"That nine-tails fox girl, I presume." White said, trying to change his image.

"Very good, White. This girl holds an immense power, known as the Nine-tails Fox. At least, so the story goes. We must not allow this girl and her power, if it exists, to fall in the hands of the government. Therefore, we will either catch her, expel her from this town, or kill her. And anybody who tries to defend her or help her will go too." Elise said.

"That may be your intentions, but you have no way of getting to her. She's very elusive, she hasn't been really spotted for a good five months, only some minor appearances here or there. The only times she lets her presence be known is when she steals some food or something when she needs it." A woman in the middle said.

"A good observation, Black. There is, however, a way to work around this. We get her to appear." Elise responded.

"A trap!" White proclaimed.

"Well, aren't you bright?" Elise mockingly said, causing White to get an angry face. "Yes, a trap indeed. And that's where you come in. You lay a trail for her, one that she can track and follow if we keep her interested enough. And then we can catch her."

"An ambitious plan." Black responded. "First, you talk about 'the immense power she might have' and then you're casually saying you will catch her. What makes you so sure you can catch her."

"I have my ways. Do you not think I already know where she is and that I have not met preparations for them? And since you all seem so surprised, I'll say it again. Yes, I know where she is. Also, I never lose." Elise responded.

"Still, knowing where she is and manipulating her into following a trail left behind by us is something completely different." Black said. "I think you're overestimating your abilities and our capabilities. Speaking of which, you want us to be your bait, but you have not yet told us what you want us to do. First say that, then we'll see further."

"My my, aren't you an intriguing one? I'm sorry, but I can't tell you what I have in store for you. I don't want to ruin all the fun already." Elise said.

"Well, then how can you be so sure we will agree with whatever you're proposing? This entire meeting has become a farce. I think everyone here will agree with me. You have only spoken out your intentions, yet you have not given details on how. You want us to listen and comply, without knowing about the plans. I think we all agree that you're talking a lot of crap. At least I know I do. I'm leaving. Don't ever contact me again, _Elise_." Black lashed out.

Black pushed her chair on the side and wanted to leave the room. However, when she took the door handle, she got a shock.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to leave the room now. After all, I don't think your sweet husband would survive that." Elise casually responded.

"What do you mean, my husband?" Black asked. "What did you do to him!"

The other people in the room also became restless. After all, if she had done something with a relative of one of them, maybe Elise had targeted their relatives too.

"See for yourself."

Elise rolled her chair to the side, showing six people in the room behind her. They all looked extremely beat up, and most of them were unconscious. All of them, actually, except for Black's husband, although he too, seemed to struggle to stay conscious.

"What have you done to them, you snake!" Another person yelled out.

"What does it seem like, Green? Torture? Beating them up?" Elise responded.

Elise walked up to Black's husband and took his face and forced him to look to her. "Tell me, James, do you fear death?"

"That person you have there is my daughter, you bitch!" White yelled out.

"Yes, I know. The rest of you family was here too. They did struggle a lot, however, so they've already been disposed of." Elise casually said, a small smile visible.

"You will pay for this!" Black yelled out, with the other five prepped up as well.

Elise smiled and a sound was heard, after which all six fell to the ground, grabbing their heads.

"Oh, I don't think so, Black. As I said, I never lose. In the end, I'll have everything. Yet you, you'll have nothing."

An evil laughter filled the room, mingling with the screams of the six people.

…

That evening, Ez lay on his bed, but he couldn't sleep. He got up from his bed and wandered through the building. He eventually got to the helipad and looked out over the city. The city was darker than usual, lights that were usually lit now unlit. The mountains surrounding the city with a few dark clouds surrounding them gave him a chilling feel. He looked up, where you could normally see the stars. The sky was clear, and since it was darker than usual, he should be able to see them, but none were visible. A thunder was heard in the distance.

"I have a bad feeling. Something terrible is going to happen…"

*James Bond theme: Everything or Nothing*

Yeah, yeah...

Time don't wait for no-one  
>So my heart and my time I refuse to waste<br>You thought you knew the score but  
>There's just so much more when you're caught in the race<p>

What is love  
>Without a flame<br>What's a rose  
>Without a name<br>What is passion without pain  
>It ain't nothing more than an empty space<p>

Give me Everything or Nothing  
>Give me Everything or Nothing at all<br>Everything or Nothing  
>Give me Everything or Nothing at all<p>

(ooh)

He thought he knew who love was  
>'till he fell in the arms of another extreme<br>But who's to say things can't be changed  
>It's your world and tomorrow's not guaranteed<p>

Can't drive a car without the keys  
>Give me the bowl cause a bite's just the tease<br>What good's the bottom without the top  
>And until I get it all, no, I'm not gonna stop, so<p>

Give me Everything or Nothing (I want it all, I want it all!)  
>Give me Everything or Nothing at all<br>Everything or Nothing  
>Give me Everything or Nothing at all<p>

Everything is all that I want  
>Everything is all that I want<br>Everything is all that I want, I take what I want  
>Everything is all that I want<br>Everything, I get what I want

Everything or Nothing (I take what I want)  
>Everything or Nothing (I get what I want)<br>Everything or Nothing (I take what I want)  
>Everything or Nothing (I get what I want)<p>

What is love  
>Without a flame<br>What's a rose  
>Without a name<br>What good's the bottom without the top  
>And until I get it all, no, I'm not gonna stop, so<p>

(screams)

Give me Everything or Nothing  
>Give me Everything or Nothing at all<br>Everything or Nothing  
>Give me Everything or Nothing at all<p>

Give me everything...  
>Everything or Nothing at all<br>Give me everything...  
>Give me Everything or Nothing at all<p>

Everything or Nothing (I take what I want)  
>Everything or Nothing (I get what I want)<br>Everything or Nothing (I take what I want)  
>Everything or Nothing (I get what I want)<p>

Give me Everything or Nothing at all!

**[A/N]: ** **I hope you were not confused by the intro to this new part ^^. This is just a little teaser to the new part of the Dawn of the Nine-tails series: Darkness Rises. As you can see, Elise is plotting to capture Ahri. How will she try to accomplish this? Will she succeed? Or will Ahri and co. see through her plan and stop it dead in its tracks. And I quite agree with Black: Elise is an utter bitch. Also seems to have a huge ego too. We'll find out how they will fight this new enemy and unravel the Nine-tails past. I will see you next time! [A/N]**


End file.
